The Memory of Skye
by MissAnnThropic
Summary: Dean and Sam make a detour to Eclipse River, Oregon. Set after my fic "Wild by Skye".
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Memory of Skye

Author: MissAnnThropic

Spoilers: set in the Skyeverse (surrounding my fic "Wild by Skye")

LiveJournal: miss_annthropic(dot)livejournal(dot)com

Summary: Dean and Sam make a detour to Eclipse River, Oregon. Set after my fic "Wild by Skye".

Timeline: See the last chapter of "Wild by Skye" for a chronological listing of Skyeverse fics to know where exactly this falls in the timeline. Or, you know, just read the fic and figure it out! Or eat pie. I know which one Dean would vote for.

Disclaimer: None of it's mine. I'm just a sad little fangirl that spends her days writing fanfic and watching DVDs of her favorite shows :(

Author's Note: There are so many moments I want to tell in this continuation of Wild by Skye, but the Muse is being stubborn, so I am hoping a little encouragement from someone other than me will get her to get serious on this one.

* * *

It wasn't always the big, nasty monsters that brought down a Winchester. Sometimes, it was something as common-place as the flu.

It was raining in Oregon. Sam was the one driving. It was midday, though it would be hard to tell by the gray, overcast sky, and the fact Dean was asleep. Sam had seen every level and shade of Dean's sleep cycle, and when he glanced over at his older brother curled against the passenger side window, he could tell it was definitely that 'dead to the world, not even a gunshot would wake me' kind of sleep. Dean rarely slept that hard, except when he was sick or hurt.

In this case, it was sick.

The car was silent but for the sound of the engine and the rain beating on the windshield and roof. When they got in the car to hit the road that morning, Dean had habitually turned on some classic rock, but when Sam was sure his brother had fallen asleep he turned it off. He didn't want to chance an errant drum beat disturbing Dean's rest.

Because Dean did need rest. He'd been taken down hard by this flu. Sickness was just about the only thing that laid him out on his back these days. Since becoming a lycanthrope, injuries didn't keep Dean out of the hunt for long. Turning could heal him twice as fast as a human healed, and he made full use of that handy fact.

But viruses couldn't care less how often Dean turned. Just more proof that Dean might be more than human, but he wasn't superman.

A routine exorcism had taken them to Oregon. It was easy enough fair for the Winchester brothers; the biggest complication was Dean coming down sick. Dean was cranky and ready to be done with the job. When they were, he kept quiet about there being any 'next one', which Sam knew meant Dean needed a break to recoup but Dean would rather eat socks than say that. So he just clammed up and grunted a lot. Sam just knew how to speak Deanese.

Testament to how shitty Dean was feeling, he hadn't even asked where Sam was taking them. He just gave Sam the keys, got in the car, and curled up to sleep through most of the ride.

Which was just as well, because Sam didn't know what Dean would say if he knew where Sam was taking them.

Ever since Dean told Sam the story of how he became a lycan, Sam wanted to visit Eclipse River, Oregon, the home of the lycan pack. Dean was the only lycan Sam had ever known. Sam's only understanding of lycanthropy came from Dean, and Dean himself had confessed he was an unusual lycan.

Sam, ever thirsty for understanding, wanted to meet what Dean would call a 'normal' lycanthrope. He wanted to see Skye's home. He wanted to stand in the place where his brother had been transformed in so many ways.

He was going to stop by Eclipse River. He didn't know what he would find or even what he expected, but it would give Sam more than the few details Dean had given him. Dean didn't talk about Eclipse River much – Sam knew it was because Skye's death was still a painful subject for his brother.

Sam might have put a lid on his curiosity about the Oregon lycan town but for something Dean had told him once about the pack at Eclipse River. _"I almost joined Skye's… when they offered to take me."_

Dean had almost stayed. Dean, the one who had taken to the nomad lifestyle of the Winchesters almost as wholly as John Winchester, considered settling in one place permanently. When nothing in their strange lives before had ever tempted Dean, Skye's pack had.

For that reason, Sam had to go and see the place that Dean had almost called home.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Dean slept through the day, unaware of Sam taking him back to the place where he'd met, and lost, the love of his life.

When the sign for Eclipse River came into view from behind thick pine trees, Sam looked worriedly over at Dean. Almost as if he knew where they were, Dean was starting to stir. He fidgeted like he might soon wake.

It was too late for Sam to change his mind. He looked forward and kept driving.

The town that bloomed from the thick of the forest was small; it had that sense of quaint and friendly. Unassuming, simple homes on the edges of town became moderate-sized, plainly built establishments as Sam drove the Impala into the heart of the town. It looked above-board and beyond suspicion. If anything, it looked almost too perfect average small-town America.

Sam knew better.

Sam's heart was racing, a lot like the way it had pounded against his ribs when he stepped on to the Stanford campus for the first time. He was in Eclipse River. It looked normal and average enough, but he looked at every passer-by on the sidewalk, and he knew they were likely lycans.

Beings like his brother, but entirely foreign at the same time.

It made his stomach tighten. Nervousness he had not expected. He was never nervous around _Dean_, of course, but he trusted Dean with his life. Whether Dean was a lycan or not had no bearing on Sam's trust; Dean was his brother and he would never hurt Sam. But these lycans were unknowns. Dean was not dangerous, but what about the rest? Maybe that was part of how Dean meant he was unusual. How would they react to a normal human like Sam who knew their secret?

But he had to see it.

The rain had stopped and the world was heavy with the weight of lingering moisture. Sam pulled the car into a space in front of an old, official-looking building (that looked like it could be a courthouse) fronted by a large lawn.

When Sam shut off the engine, it woke Dean.

"Hmmm… where're we?" he grumbled hoarsely as he stirred from his sleep.

Sam didn't answer, couldn't.

"Smm?" Dean croaked, cracking open his eyes and looking over at his younger brother behind the wheel. Sam was suddenly didn't have a clue what he could say to Dean. He'd brought him back to Eclipse River without warning, without asking.

Dean frowned at Sam's silence, turned to take in their surroundings … and froze.

Sam watched Dean warily.

Dean tensed and slowly sat upright in his seat. His feet braced against the floorboard and his knees locked, like a passenger tensing for a collision. He stared forward at the town, his body radiating his building… anger? Annoyance? Discomfort? Sam couldn't tell.

Dean didn't move, didn't speak, for a long time. He stared ahead at the green lawn and stately building, his jaw tight, his breathing shallow, his mood completely unreadable.

Slowly, after what seemed forever, he looked over at Sam. His eyes were cold and gave away nothing. "What are we doing here?" His voice, too, was flat. Sam still had no clue what Dean felt or thought about Sam's detour.

Sam stammered, "I… we were close, and I thought…"

Dean continued to stare at him.

"I… I wanted to see it," Sam finished awkwardly.

Dean just stared.

Sam reached anxiously for the keys dangling from the ignition, suddenly desperate to _fix it_. "I'm sorry, Dean, I shouldn't have brought you here. We can leave; you don't have to stay."

Before Sam could start the car, Dean opened the door and got out. Sam froze with his fingers ready to turn the key and just watched. Dean walked stiffly on to the verdant lawn, his back to the car and his posture rigid.

Sam hesitated a beat then pocketed the keys, got out, and went after his brother.

Dean stood still with his eyes resolutely directed forward when Sam came up alongside him.

Sam, who had been dying to see the town, suddenly couldn't look at anything other than Dean.

Sam couldn't read his brother at all. If Dean was angry, he wished he would show it. Anger he could deal with, atone for his actions that had incited it, but this non-reaction was harder to bear. He didn't know what to do to make things right if he didn't even know what was wrong.

When the silence became deafening, Sam figured he had to try _something_. "I am really, really sorry, Dean," Sam said earnestly. "This was a mistake. I should have at least asked first. I just..."

"You just _what_, Sam?"

Sam swallowed. "I know this place meant a lot to you once, and I wanted to come here."

Dean finally looked toward Sam, still expressionless. "What for?"

Why did he feel the need to be where Dean had been while they were separated? Sam looked down, abashed. "Fill in the holes, I guess."

When Dean didn't speak, Sam looked up and saw the questioning look on his brother's face. Questioning was better than nothingness, so Sam was slightly encouraged. "Truth is… Stanford wasn't always great. When I first got there, it was pretty rough." Dean's attention subtly shifted, went from defensive to attentive. Not quite forgiving, but listening.

Sam had never told Dean about how Stanford had been difficult; he didn't want to admit it in the face of what he gave up in order to go. It _had_ to be worth it. He'd walked out on his family for college, so college couldn't be anything negative. It would make what Sam did wrong. Sam didn't like to linger on those hard days.

But Sam had dragged Dean into the past, and a painful one, so it was only fair. Sam confessed haltingly, "I was in a strange place, and I was alone."

Something gave in Dean's hard look, almost like he ached at the words. "You had Jessica."

Sam's smile twisted into a grimace, the memory of her still sharp and beautiful at once. "I didn't meet her my first day there. For a while, for the first time in my life, I was completely alone." Sam didn't even like thinking about those first painful days, but Dean deserved an answer, and Sam's hard days at Stanford were part of it. "I didn't miss Dad… hardly. He made it hard for me to miss him. But _you_… man, I missed you _a lot_."

Dean broke eye contact to look away at the confession. Sam could only guess that maybe it was too close to the mark for him, too.

"I can't count how many times I wondered where you were, what you were doing, if you were all right, and this," Sam lifted a hand to gesture abstractly at the town around them, "is part of that answer. I just… I know I had no right, but I wanted to see it."

Still, Dean didn't give Sam any clues. He pressed his lips together like he was thinking, but he didn't even give any hint of those thoughts. He just stood still and took in everything.

The sheer neutrality of it unsettled Sam; he assumed it meant a great storm was going to erupt to break the stillness.

Hoping he might still forestall the explosion, Sam said, "So I've seen it. We can go now."

When Dean made no move to leave, Sam didn't either. He waited entirely on Dean.

The first sign of emotion was when Dean's brow furrowed. "In over three years, I've never come back here."

It wasn't what Sam had been expecting Dean to say. Sensing Dean might not be angry so much as contemplative, Sam ventured to ask, "Did you ever want to?"

Dean flinched slightly. "Honestly… yeah, sometimes."

Sam nodded like he understood, even if he didn't, and waited to follow Dean's lead. He was curious as hell, but even Sam knew he'd amped out on what he could ask of Dean. He would have to be happy with whatever Dean would volunteer.

"The nights of the full moon mostly," Dean continued, voice barely loud enough to carry. Sam didn't dare to speak on the chance it would make Dean stop. "I never ran with the pack. The timing, when I turned and when Skye…" Dean winced, "when I left, I just never did. And since it was such a huge deal to them… sometimes I wondered what it would be like."

Without another word, Dean began walking in the opposite direction of the car, and Sam fell in step beside him.

To Be Continued…


	3. Chapter 3

The lawn of the courthouse building was next to a park fenced by trees. There seemed to generally be more grass than pavement in Eclipse River. Children were playing on the playground equipment watched over by their parents.

Dean kept clear of them all, consciously moving away from other people like a man with a social phobia, cutting a wide berth as he walked with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Sam stayed right by his side and did not question, peculiar as Dean's behavior might seem to him. He could only imagine what it would be like to walk through the Stanford campus again.

For the most part, the Winchester brothers seemed to go unnoticed. They were too far from the kids to worry the parents. The children, as ever, were oblivious in the joy of being alive.

Dean stopped near the trees without cause. Sam halted by his side and watched Dean close his eyes and take in a deep breath. His lips parted to let it out, slow and heavy.

The wind stirred in the trees, and Sam took note of the thick scent of pine.

Sam looked sideways at Dean. His brother still looked tense but not necessarily furious. Sam took his chances and asked, "Are you mad?"

Dean slowly opened his eyes and looked over at his brother. He studied him with a scowl. "I don't know yet."

Not a fantastic answer, but Sam figured that was fair. He nodded acceptance of that promise of potential wrath later. "You want to leave?" Sam asked, at that point willing to do anything Dean wanted.

"I don't know yet."

So instead, they walked. Dean's stride was slow, his posture lacking the bravado and confidence it usually bore. Sam wondered how much of that was the flu still dragging him down and how much was the power of Eclipse River.

The children were playing, chasing one another and shrieking gleefully. Sam's eyes were drawn to them, just for being so animated in a world otherwise so stately and controlled.

There were five of them, all about the same age. The child in front of the mob, the on being chased, veered from her pursuers and bolted toward the two wandering Winchesters.

Startled, Sam stopped. Dean followed suit out of habit.

The leading girl, no more than six years old, raced toward the brothers, her blonde hair flying and her eyes full of life. Sam blinked, taken off guard, when the sparkling blue of her irises, as she charged forward full-tilt, for the briefest moment flashed gold.

Without pause or doubt, the little girl flung herself at Dean, skinny arms wrapping around his legs, and she turned to her chasers and cried between breathless laughs, "_Safe_!"

Dean was frozen in his spot, understandably surprised, as he looked down at child holding on to him.

The other kids slammed to a stop at the girl's yell. Then Sam's eyes widened at what they did next. The children came no closer, but they paced an invisible perimeter around the girl and her 'base', eyes locked on the girl they had been chasing. They were like a pack of restless wolves. _Children_ but _wolves_. They were all smiling, every one of them. It was still a game. But Sam could see something _else_ in their eyes that was decidedly animalistic.

Then the oldest boy turned on his heel. "Last one to the merry-go-round is it!" And then the pack of children were streaking off toward the equipment, all loud whoops and laughs.

Then Sam and Dean were left alone with the little girl wrapped around Dean's leg.

She tilted her face up to look at him, her smile suggesting not the slightest flicker of mistrust. "Hi! I'm Whitney!"

Dean looked lost for words.

Sam knelt down and offered up his best smile. "Hi there… I'm Sam."

He didn't get the reaction he had expected. Whitney looked over at Sam and suddenly her entire demeanor shifted. With a small scowl transforming her face, Whitney shied away from Sam, put Dean between her and Sam, and peered out at Sam past Dean's legs.

Sam, baffled, looked up at Dean.

Dean looked like he was trying to swallow a tennis ball.

Whitney reached up and fisted the bottom of Dean's jacket in her hands. "I'm not 'spose to talk to him," she whispered gravely.

Dean cleared his throat, lifted one hand like he might try patting the girl's head, then thought better of it and made a helpless arms-out gesture. "He won't hurt you."

Whitney turned her bright blue eyes up to Dean. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Whitney mulled that over. Before she could come to any conclusion, a woman trotted up to them. "_Whitney_! What have I told you about…" the mom came close to Dean and slowed to a stop, a different disposition overtaking her. "Oh," was all she had to say when she was near her daughter and the strange man she'd clung to.

"Cute kid," Dean said for lack of anything else.

As with the child, the mother's eyes cut to Sam and held there warily.

Sam stood back up and tried his smile on the mom. She looked no more impressed than Whitney had been.

Then he was forgotten as the mother turned her eyes back to Dean. She stared openly at him. She started to frown in that universal look of one trying to place a familiar face.

Dean ducked his head and looked away.

The mother narrowed her eyes at Dean, opened her mouth, then snapped it shut before uttering a word and sent another look Sam's direction. Sam smiled again, but this time it was half-hearted. He'd been pegged the 'riff-raff' of the pair, obviously. It was a first impression usually aimed at Dean.

"Come on, Whitney," the mother finally said, giving up on placing Dean's face. She held her hand out for her daughter, once more giving Sam an assessing and none-too-pleasant look.

When they were gone, Sam looked to his brother. "What was that about?" Sam asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

Dean looked uncomfortable and edgy. "You're a sore thumb, Sammy."

"They can tell right away that you're…"

"One of them? Yeah, they can."

"Can you tell that fast… with them?"

Dean lifted one eyebrow and looked slowly over Sam, the look on his face just shy of condescending. _That_ Sam would blame on the flu.

Dean didn't respond to Sam's question and just started walking again. Sam gauged how upset Dean actually was (or wasn't) by the fact that Dean still checked his pace and waited for Sam to catch up.

When he did, Sam casually asked, "How?"

"Hmm?"

"How can you… you know, tell?"

"The lycanthrope secret handshake," Dean answered dryly.

Sam smirked and shook his head. Dean couldn't be too upset if he was cracking jokes. At least now Sam understood why Dean was making such a conscious effort to stay well away from others. For whatever reasons, he didn't want to be acknowledged by the residents. He wanted to be a shadow in the background, and staying clear of other lycanthropes was the only way to really do that.

If that was what Dean wanted, Sam would do whatever he could not to draw attention to them (a demanding enough task for someone six foot four). He kept quiet and (hopefully) supportive, but the entire time he wondered just where Dean was going.

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Dean obviously had a destination in mind, and of all things it was the edge of town, just before it gave ground to woodlands. Dean walked right up to the edge, stopped, and just stared out at the forest.

When they were kids, something like that would have made Sam think his brother had been sniffing glue. Now, it was normal for Dean to gravitate toward wilderness. It brought to Dean a peace Sam never saw in his brother anywhere else.

Although right now, he wasn't exactly peaceful. Sam still had no reading on Dean's mood; there was tension in his face that could be many things, just not peace.

Sam hated to say anything, but it was starting to get dark and cold, and Dean was still sick. "Dean… it's getting late."

Dean didn't react.

"If you want…" Sam tried, "we could find a hotel in town. Or in the next town over. Or we could just leave all together. I'm good to drive. What do you want to do?"

Dean looked over at Sam, that unreadable expression still in place. "I don't know."

Sam hadn't expected a town to leave Dean so shaken. He still looked pale and drawn from the flu, his skin ashen and his hair spiky with dried sweat. His fever came and went. At that moment, Sam suspected it might be back, but he wasn't brave enough to reach over a hand and check. That was best done when Dean slept (while being mindful of Dean's knife hand).

Sam wanted to follow Dean's lead, whatever that might be, but he realized Dean wasn't really in the kind of shape for making big decisions.

"Okay," he said, "let's go back to the car and find a hotel in the nearest town from here. We'll get some sleep, and in the morning you can decide what you want to do. Will that work?"

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but before he got a word out, a voice behind him called, "Dean?!"

Dean went stock still. His face paled.

Sam looked beyond Dean's shoulder. A woman was hurriedly approaching them. She was older with light brown hair touched by gray. She looked familiar to Sam, but he couldn't put his finger on how; he was certain he'd never met her before.

Dean slowly turned and the woman stopped in front of him. They faced each other for a few dragging seconds, neither one seeming to so much as breathe. The woman gazed up into Dean's face, clearly astounded, then she threw her arms around him.

To Sam's complete shock, Dean immediately hugged her back, his body melting into the contact.

The woman held on to Dean tightly. "It _is_ you, Dean, I can hardly believe it. What are you doing here? When did you get back?" Before Dean could answer any of her questions, she buried her nose in his shoulder, inhaled deeply, and frowned. She drew away to look at him critically. "You smell sick. Are you okay?"

Dean barked out a harsh chuckle. "I'm feeling better."

The woman, unhappy with his answer, reached up to check his forehead for fever. Sam was amazed that Dean let her. She narrowed her eyes. "You feel warm."

"I'm alright, I just caught something."

"Are you hungry? But look who I'm asking, when aren't you hungry? I'm taking you to the diner; Tanya makes amazing chicken noodle soup."

"Yeah, I'll bet she does," Dean said in a soft, hoarse voice.

The woman wrapped her hands around Dean's arm, which he seemed content to allow, then she finally noticed Sam standing behind Dean. She eyed him warily.

That made Dean react. "It's okay… this is my brother, Sam." Dean turned to look back at Sam. "Sam, this is Jaina Lauchlan… Skye's mother."

Sam's eyes widened. He understood now why she looked familiar. Dean's picture of Skye. The two women had the same features, if not the same coloring. Sam stepped forward, "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Jaina looked up at Dean. "Your brother?" she asked meaningfully.

Dean smirked affectionately. "Yes, he knows."

Jaina looked uncertain by Dean's answer, but she freed one of her hands from Dean to shake Sam's. "Sam… nice to meet you."

Jaina turned her attention back to Dean, no longer asking a million questions. Her expression was only gentle. "It's good to see you again."

Dean's voice was low, almost emotional, as he whispered, "It's good to see you, too."

Sam stood back acting like he wasn't overhearing the whole thing. He wasn't sure how long the uncomfortable moment might have lasted if Dean hadn't shivered in the rapidly cooling night air. Jaina latched on to him again and started to lead him off. "Come on, Dean… Tanya has just the thing for that crud of yours."

Dean began to leave with Jaina but pulled up slightly, just enough to glance back for Sam. Jaina's mouth set in a thin line, but she didn't speak.

"Sammy?" Dean rasped.

Sam strode forward to walk on the opposite side of Dean from Jaina.

With his brother at his side, Dean went where Jaina led him willingly.

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Sam felt distinctly like an afterthought as he followed Dean and Jaina back into town. When they reached the main street through Eclipse River, Dean noticeably stiffened. Soon, Sam understood why. People on the street either looked curious or surprised. A few looked outright shocked. No one was apathetic. Sam seemed to go unnoticed next to his lycan brother in a lycan town.

Tanya's Diner was obviously a popular eatery, and just as Jaina made to pull Dean inside, Dean balked. "Jaina..." he began, but seemed lost for words beyond a simple protest. To Sam, he sounded worried.

"It's all right, Dean."

Dean looked dubious.

Jaina frowned thoughtfully at him. Then she smiled as kindly as she could when understanding bloomed. "Oh, Dean... it won't be like that. When we-" she stopped mid-sentence and cut another wary look at Sam, the warmth of her manner chilling a little. Sam offered a smile, but it was fleeting, for he had learned quickly how far his charm and personality did _not _get him with the lycans.

At Jaina's mistrustful glance, Dean took a step back, gently pulling free of Jaina's hold and ending up standing next to his younger brother. Dean's voice was stronger when he prompted, "When I left the pack?" He looked pointedly at Jaina and waited.

Jaina held her breath a second then forced a smile. "When we offered to accept you into the pack, it was after a majority of the town agreed to it. You're not one of them anymore. You're one of us."

Dean still didn't budge.

Sam slid a few inches closer to his brother and touched his arm in passing. "Come on, man, it's freezing out here, and I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

Dean glanced at Sam, studied him a moment, then nodded, as a matter of principle shook off Sam's too caring hand, and moved forward. Jaina opened the door and Sam held it there while they filed into the diner.

"Tanya! Look who's back," Jaina called the moment she was inside the diner.

Dean stopped so abruptly that Sam slammed into him from behind.

An elderly woman with her hair pinned in a white bun was standing by the counter with an order pad in hand. She turned at Jaina's voice with a smile on her face. A smile that vanished when she set eyes on Dean. Her mouth hung open and her eyes widened.

The diner went deathly quiet as the other patrons turned to look. To their credit, the stunned silence only lasted a second - the lycans were good at appearing normal to the outside world - but Sam felt their intense focus even when they moved their eyes back to their own plates and companions.

Tanya came around the counter and strode toward the three new arrivals. Her eyes were locked on Dean the whole time. She stopped before him and reached out a hand to grip his upper arm, as though testing to see if he was real.

"Dean?! Boy, when did you get here?" she asked.

"Ah... not long ago."

Tanya half-smiled then she turned a steely gaze on Sam.

"Tanya, this is my brother, Sam," Dean introduced.

Sam wondered if there was any point in being polite, but old habits kicked in anyway. "Nice to meet you."

Tanya looked Sam up and down with an assessing eye, then looked over at Jaina.

It was Dean who answered (sounding quite annoyed in the process), "Sam _knows_."

Tanya looked sharply at Dean then. "You told him?"

Dean's posture radiated tension. "He's my _brother_."

Tanya seemed less than pleased with that, but she didn't pursue the matter. She nodded grimly, as if accepting bad news with grace, and dropped her hand from Dean's arm.

"Dean's not feeling well," Jaina jumped in helpfully. "I told him you had just the thing for that."

Tanya eyed Dean shrewdly. "Bet your ass I do. Go have a seat, I'll bring you some of my soup." She looked toward Sam almost reluctantly. "What would you like?"

"Get the meatloaf," Dean advised, "it's awesome."

"Uh, sure, meatloaf," Sam said.

Tanya nodded, turned to see to their food, then stopped and looked back at Dean. "You seen Lucas yet?"

Dean flinched. "No."

"You should... whenever you come to town, first thing you should do is meet with him."

"Who's Lucas?" Sam asked.

Heedless of Sam's question, Jaina said, "I'm sure Lucas is going to know soon, if he doesn't already. Quite a few townspeople recognized Dean on the street."

Tanya made a thoughtful humming sound. "Still, you should go to him. It's only right." Then she left.

"Come on, Dean," Jaina led them toward a vacant table.

"Who's Lucas?" Sam asked again when they were seated, Dean and Sam sharing a bench seat and Jaina sitting across from them.

Dean looked to Jaina expectantly, clearly making her answer Sam's question.

She looked remiss to do it, but then she replied, "Our alpha. He's the leader of our community."

Dean sank down in his seat, hands shoved in his jacket pockets, and scrunched his body down like a petulant preteen. Dean did brusque and blustering more than he did pouting and withdrawn; the latter were usually only part of Dean's hurt or sick repertoire.

To Jaina's words, he provided only a scowl.

Undeterred, Jaina asked, "How long will you be staying?"

Sam looked briefly down at his brother. Dean only offered a stilted shrug. "I'm not sure." Dean sniffled and looked across the table at Jaina. "How's Ramon?"

"He's fine." Jaina faltered. "I mean, you know, as fine as either of us can ever be." She gave a weak smile.

Dean locked up next to Sam. Discomfort and heartache landed hard and heavy on the table.

"I got your letter," Dean finally mumbled, the defensiveness gone from his voice, replaced by that note of heartache Dean's voice took on when he spoke of lost loved ones.

Jaina swallowed. "I wasn't sure you ever got it. When I never heard from you… I worried."

Dean fidgeted uneasily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to… I got it. I just… didn't know what to say." Dean pressed his lips together a second. "But I got the picture… thank you."

Sam thought of the picture Dean was talking about, the one of Dean and Skye together that the elder Winchester brother carried in his wallet. It was the only reason Sam knew what Skye had looked like.

"You're welcome." Jaina looked away a moment, her expression awash with grief just barely contained, then she said, "Tanya's right, you know. You need to see Lucas."

Dean narrowed his eyes like a kid staring at his peas.

"Dean…" Jaina chided softly.

Sam looked between the two. "What's the deal with this Lucas guy?" Sam looked toward his brother. "Did you deck him?"

Dean smiled then, a sly curve of the mouth that would have been a full-out cocky grin if Dean wasn't feeling so under the weather. "Nah… but sure wanted to."

"He did what he had to," Jaina interjected firmly. When Dean just grunted and looked out the window with a stifled cough, Jaina looked toward Sam and seemed to take pity on the poor, confused human. "Dean didn't much care for Lucas."

"Understatement," Dean grumbled.

"He never did anything for you to dislike him."

Dean looked quickly and keenly at Jaina. "He's the reason Skye… he… never mind." Dean frowned angrily and looked out the window again. He looked aloof and dismissive, but Sam could practically feel Dean's body shaking with disguised tension.

Jaina's brow furrowed. "You don't blame _Lucas_ for Skye's death."

Dean brought up a hand and scrubbed his face roughly, then scruffed his hand through his hair, leaving it standing up in haphazard spikes. "No, but… I ran with Skye that night because she was banned from the pack run."

Jaina let slip a knowing smile. "You would have run with Skye anyway, regardless of her sentence."

Dean's breathing faltered, stuttered in and shuddered out. For a second, Sam actually worried Dean would lose control and maybe _almost_ cry at the table. He tensed, wondering how he could get Dean out of the diner before his cracks showed.

Before anything could happen, Tanya returned to the table with a bowl and a plate that she set before the Winchester boys. "Here you are," she said, her look noticeably kinder toward Dean than Sam. Sam didn't bother trying to win her over with his innocent charm – the locals seemed well and fully immune.

Dean quickly curled over his soup bowl and took up his spoon. Sam suspected it was more to turn his face down and hide in his dinner than any real hunger. Dean hadn't had much of an appetite since he came down sick.

The meatloaf, however, was fantastic just as Dean claimed.

Dean ate a few spoonfuls of soup before he glanced up at Jaina again and grumbled, "Town sure seems _friendlier_ than the last time I was here."

Sam and his brother obviously had very different definitions of 'friendly'. He cast a 'seriously?!' look at his brother, who ignored it.

"We weren't so much hostile toward you as _afraid_ of you," Jaina explained.

Dean eyed her dubiously.

"Your _kind_ is the reason we're so few," Jaina continued. "But you were turned more than three years ago, and in that time, you haven't brought the hunters down on us. You kept your word. That went a long way toward proving your loyalty. No lycan died because of you."

Dean paled slightly and put down his spoon. "Yeah, well, I get the feeling not everyone agrees with you on that."

Obviously, Jaina knew exactly what Dean was talking about, even if Sam was baffled. Her expression turned grim. "Jeremy and Skye were close," Jaina said slowly. "They grew up together. The three of them: Skye, Jeremy, and Trey, they were inseparable. It's hard for Jeremy to be the only one left. He just… needed someone to blame."

With a sardonic grunt, Dean leaned back in his seat again. Only Sam noticed that Dean slid fractionally closer to his younger brother in the process. Feeling all the more protective, Sam casually reached across Dean to grab the bottle of ketchup, coming back to his place but marginally closer to Dean, close enough that Sam could feel Dean's body heat where their thighs almost touched.

Dean glanced very briefly at Sam, but the light in his eyes seemed appreciative.

The intervention of Sam caught Jaina's attention and she looked toward the younger Winchester. She seemed to balk a moment, then asked, "How much has Dean told you?"

Sam felt startled into a spotlight, then cleared his throat to speak.

"Dean Winchester," a deep voice resonated from the entrance of the diner.

All talk in the diner came to an abrupt halt. Jaina looked past Sam and sat up straight. Dean went rigid.

Sam felt an uneasy sensation crawl up his spine and raise the hairs on the back of his neck. Slowly, he turned and looked toward the entrance.

There was a man standing in the doorway, and he was looking directly at Dean. He was a dignified figure and about him was a sense of power. Authority. He immediately reminded Sam of John Winchester. Like a reflex, Sam's stomach tightened and his jaw clenched.

The man strode slowly into the diner on a direct path toward the Winchesters.

Sam was so focused on the man, it took him a moment to notice the reaction of all the diners around them. As the man passed, each one of them canted their head to the side.

Before Sam could puzzle that out, he felt Dean insistently nudging him in the shoulder. He wanted out of the seat.

Sam slid out of the booth and Dean followed. Then, quite deliberately, Dean stepped around Sam and stood between him and the new arrival. That made Sam even edgier; it was an overtly protective gesture. This man, for whatever reason, set off Dean's defenses.

The man came to a stop right in front of Dean. The two men stood face to face and looked long and hard at each other. Sam glanced toward Jaina and saw that she was copying the behavior of the others in the diner with her head turned and neck exposed.

Sam looked back Dean and the man.

There was a tense atmosphere around the two men as they stared at one another.

"Lucas," Dean said in a low voice.

The older man just continued to stare.

Sam wasn't sure what was going on, but there was a building discontent that he was sure everyone in the diner felt. Sam looked at the others and they were clearly agitated. Their expressions were tight and some looked almost afraid.

Then, very slowly, Dean turned his head. At great length and noticeable hesitation, he too offered his throat to Lucas.

It was as if the diner let out a collective breath.

The stone of Lucas's face cracked. He almost even smiled. "Dean… it's been years."

"More than three," Dean confirmed. "Last time I saw you was…"

"At the invitation," Lucas finished. Then he looked pointedly at Dean. "Are you back to accept?"

Dean seemed startled by the question. Sam stepped closer to stand behind his brother.

Lucas finally turned his attention to Sam. Any hint of openness or friendliness in his face vanished.

"I'm Sam Winchester," Sam introduced himself, allowing Dean time to collect himself. "I'm Dean's brother." Remembering the gesture all the others had presented to Lucas, Sam followed their example and presented the side of his throat, too.

Unexpectedly, Lucas chuckled. Sam looked back at him, and the man looked no gentler for his amusement. "I don't expect that of your kind." Then Lucas looked at Dean and asked pointedly, "He knows?"

"He's no threat," Dean answered.

Lucas lifted one eyebrow. "Is he a hunter?"

Dean stiffened.

Sam stepped forward and to the side to stand alongside his brother. "Sir… I understand your… caution, but Dean's right. I assure you that I'm no threat to you."

"We'll see," Lucas rumbled.

"Lucas…" Jaina got up and came next to the Winchester boys. "Dean's not feeling well… couldn't this wait until later?"

Lucas looked between the two Winchesters, his gaze considerably longer on Sam, then he said, "Of course." He looked toward Dean, notably excluding Sam. "You're welcome here, Dean." Then, with a dominating sweep of his eyes over the diner patrons, he left.

Dean visibly relaxed. He turned to Jaina and shook his head, "I heard all of _that_ before, 'we'll see', only he was talking about _me_."

"Try to see his side of it," Jaina said, "you came back and brought another hunter with you."

"It's just _Sam_."

"Gee, thanks, Dean," Sam grumbled.

Dean cast him a long-suffering look and said to Jaina, "I mean Sam's not the type to hurt anyone. He's a hunter, yes, but he doesn't see _us_ as dangerous."

"Well, forgive those of us who don't see the difference," Jaina responded, softening her words with a touch to Dean's arm. "Some in town are going to see Sam being here as the worst fears about your change coming true."

"You mean people like Jeremy," Dean said pointedly.

Jaina sighed. "I don't want to argue, Dean. We can talk about it tomorrow if you really insist on questioning centuries of our survival wisdom."

"Sounds awesome," Dean groaned, then sniffled as he turned to Sam. "Well, let's find a motel. Looks like we're sticking around, at least for now."

"Don't do that," Jaina interjected. "You already have a place to stay."

Dean eyed Jaina warily, "We do?"

Jaina smiled thinly and took his arm again. "Come on."

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6

From his place standing in front of the Impala's grill, Sam looked from the house to Dean. When he saw the look on Dean's face, his attention stayed on his brother. Dean looked like he was going to throw up.

"I don't understand," Dean croaked as he stared up at the small house in front of them.

Jaina held something small out to Dean and pressed it into his palm. When she drew her hand away, Sam saw a key lying in Dean's hand.

"It's yours," Jaina said gently.

Dean glanced down at the key in his hand, dumbstruck, then at Jaina. "I don't get it."

That earned Dean a smile, like he was a little boy and Jaina every inch a mother. "What's there to get? It belongs to you," Jaina answered.

"But… how? We were never… and I never signed anything or…"

Jaina laughed. "Of course you didn't. Men have their laws, and we have ours. You were Skye's mate. What was hers is yours." Jaina looked sadly at the house, a small smile on her lips. "It's almost exactly how she left it."

Sam watched Dean closely, worried how he might be handling this latest unexpected news.

"I… I thought you said you'd cleaned it out. In your letter, you said you went through her things."

Jaina pressed her lips together tightly for a second. "At first I just cleaned out the perishables. Then, later, I put the sheets away, covered the furniture, developed the film in her camera when I saw it on the bookshelf… things like that. Sometimes someone in the pack would need odds and ends, a lamp or toaster that I knew Skye would have been happy to loan them… but her personal possessions are still here, and most of her belongings…" Jaina paused then said, "it wasn't ours to give away. It was yours."

Dean turned to Jaina. "Before I left, or in your letter… why didn't you tell me?"

"Lucas forbade it. He said the thirst for material possessions shouldn't be the reason you came back. He said if you were truly pack, your heart would lead you home."

Dean swallowed thickly and closed his fingers over the key.

Jaina moved closer to Dean. "Would you like me to go in with you?"

"No," Dean said thickly, his jaw tight and shoulders tense. He looked like a rubber band stretched too taut and ready to break. Even on the hunt, Sam rarely saw his older brother that tightly wound.

"All right…" Jaina said, backing off slightly, "you'll come see me tomorrow?"

Dean only nodded.

Jaina seemed to accept that and moved away from Dean. Her eyes fell on Sam, briefly, and she looked torn on how to react. In the end, she gave a polite smile and left.

Leaving the two brothers alone in front of the house.

Sam felt like he was standing next to a rabid dog ready to snap. He looked carefully over at Dean and spoke hesitantly, "Umm… hey… we don't have to go in, you know."

Dean's face set in determination and without answering he moved toward the house. Sam, not all sure this was such a good idea, followed a few steps behind.

Dean opened the door with the key given to him by Jaina. He stepped inside almost as if he expected an attack. Fleetingly, Sam wished he had a gun on him… when Dean was rigid like that, Sam was trained from childhood to be backup.

But there was no attack from the empty house. Only thick silence, the heaviness of air in the wake of the dead.

It had the feel of a place long abandoned. The furniture was covered and there was a dusty smell in the air. Dean stopped in the living room and seemed to get lost in the ghosts only he could see, the kind Winchesters couldn't shoot full of rock salt.

Intent on giving his brother some space, Sam left Dean's side and explored the house on his own a bit. It wasn't big, but Sam could imagine how it would be cozy if the place had some life back in it. Two bedrooms, a small spare room, the living room, kitchen, and a master bathroom.

It was all so normal, and Sam tried to imagine Dean here calling it home. He couldn't see it.

In the hallway, he stopped at a row of hung photographs. One was of Jaina with a man her own age, only with a darker complexion. Skye's parents. Another picture had three children about the same age, eight or nine years, two boys and a girl in the middle. They reminded Sam of the pack children he'd seen earlier. Even their grins seemed somehow wolfish… feral. The third picture made Sam stop dead in his tracks. That photograph Skye's mother must have added after Skye died. It was Dean and Skye. The camera was obviously put on the ground… in the foreground were blurry outlines of blades of grass. Beyond them Dean lay on his back on the grass, smiling up at Skye who was on top of him, braced on her hands and knees and smiling back down at him, her hair falling down over one shoulder. Dean's hands were almost absently on her hips… absent in the way only hands that belonged there could be. Sam recognized their clothes… this picture was taken on the same day as the photo Dean carried in his wallet. They looked so happy together. Sam suddenly thought of Jessica, her smile as she held out a plate of freshly-baked cookies like bait, and he had to look away from the picture.

He wandered back toward the living room and found Dean standing stock still at the entrance to the master bedroom. He looked ghostly pale, his jaw muscles jumping and his hands fisted at his side.

Sam came up alongside Dean and saw that Dean was staring at the bed.

The realization made Sam ache for his brother. No question why seeing _that_ bed was making Dean look ready to either pass out or throw up.

"You okay?" Sam asked gently.

Dean swallowed thickly. "Not really, Sammy."

Sam frowned, lifted a hand to touch Dean's shoulder, then thought better of it and dropped his hand helplessly to his side.

"We could still leave," Sam offered softly.

Dean took a deep, bracing breath. He held it, froze, then exhaled.

"If you're not comfortable…" Sam said, his tone leaving the statement open for Dean to finish.

Dean looked torn for a second, like he wanted to go just as much as he wanted to stay, and either one would be painful, then he wearily brought up a hand and pinched his temples. "No... let's just... we're here. The sheets are in the spare bedroom closet."

Sam nodded agreement; he wouldn't make Dean say more.

Together, the brothers put clean sheets on the bed in the master bedroom, then they fixed up the bed in the spare bedroom for Sam. By the time they finished, it was late and Dean looked wiped out. Testament to the fact he was still feeling under the weather, he actually admitted it, too. "All right, I'm throwing in the towel," Dean grunted and turned toward the master bedroom only to pause uncertainly, as if the bedroom held a dangerous animal he dreaded to face. Sam knew from experience memories could be almost as cowing as a Black Dog.

Sam started to reach for Dean's shoulder, determined to be a comfort _somehow_, when Dean said, "Sam?"

Sam drew up his hand shy of touching Dean. "Yeah?"

Dean turned to look at his younger brother, his expression unreadable once more. "You should have _asked_ me before bringing us here."

Sam looked down contritely. "I know, Dean. I'm sorry... I had no right to make you face all this again."

Dean's look hardened. "No, you didn't. But that's not even what I mean. This place might not be safe for you." With that, Dean went into the master bedroom and almost shut the door, leaving it open a crack so he could listen to the rest of the house. Something told Sam it was more than just Dean's over-protective big brother streak that made him do it.

Sam stared for a second at the bedroom door behind which Dean had disappeared. He wasn't tired yet, too wound up after seeing Eclipse River and meeting some of its residents. As quietly as he could, Sam went through the living room and kitchen, uncovering furniture and absently dusting off counters with a swipe of his hand. Maybe it would seem less ghostly to Dean in the morning if it didn't look so much like the home of the deceased.

He noticed a few things, being trained for observation as he was. The most obvious were that the electricity and water were still on (Sam didn't know who had been paying them all these years). There was even a wash towel setting out next to the sink. There were still canned goods in the kitchen cabinets and an answering machine hooked up to the telephone. The house wasn't closed up and forgotten. It had all the indications of a place waiting for its owner to come home any day.

It had been left in wait for Dean.

Satisfied the house was as good as he could get it for the time being, Sam went to turn in for the night.

On his way back down the hall, Sam stopped again and stared at the hung photograph of Dean and Skye. They were a very attractive couple. Sam didn't have to be into guys to know it was just pure fact that Dean was good-looking. All the women who gave him the hungry eyes were proof of that. Sam _did_ know from personal judgment that Skye was beautiful. He could easily see Dean falling for her.

Sam stared at her in the picture and wished he had met her. If she hadn't died, how would their lives be different now? Would Dean have married Skye, moved in with her? Hell, would they have _children_?

It was a Dean Winchester Sam could not really imagine, but looking at the picture of Dean and Skye, it didn't seem so impossible. Maybe Sam didn't know his brother down to the core like he thought he did.

It made him think of Jessica, and the life so far from his upbringing he had been so bound and determined to build with her. Maybe, deep down, the things he and Dean wanted were more alike than Dean would ever admit.

With a sad smile to himself, Sam went to the guest bedroom and went to sleep.

To Be Continued…

A/N: You asked for it, you got it! After the response to the poll question 'would anyone be interested in a website for the Skyeverse' came back with a prevailing 'YES', my techno-friend has done just that. I hope everyone checks it out and enjoys!

MissAnnThropic

Link: community(dot)livejournal(dot)com/skyeverse/

(dot)=period


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: As a general rule, this fic will be updated on the LJ community before it is updated here, for those of you who just cannot wait.

community(dot)livejournal(dot)com/skyeverse/

(dot)=period

* * *

Not unexpectedly, Sam was up before Dean the next morning. Sam intended to let Dean sleep as long as his brother would stay down. He slipped into the master bedroom and checked on Dean, who was lying curled on his side sleeping. Dean only slept curled up when he wasn't well, otherwise it was on his stomach or his back. Dean only snored if he was congested, too… not a sawing sound so much as a rhythmic wheezing. Sam wondered if all siblings knew so much about each other, or if it was a byproduct of the uniquely Winchester upbringing they'd had, living so wholly in the same space.

Sam fished Dean's jeans off the floor and dug into the pockets until he found the keys to the car. After a second, he took out Dean's cell phone, too, so if it rang it wouldn't wake Dean up.

Sam went out to the car and brought in their bags, setting them both on the couch in the living room. He and Dean had both crashed in what they wore into the house last night, but morning meant necessities like a change of clothes and a toothbrush.

Sam set about taking care of his sick brother first. He knew Dean would just pull on the same jeans from yesterday, but Sam rooted around in the bottom of Dean's bag and found his hoodie, the one Sam only ever saw Dean wear when he was sick. It was like a child's teddy bear or a baby's blanket – Dean found comfort in it. Dean would never confess as much, but the hoodie had stuck with Dean for years, always at the bottom of the bag in wait. It was faded and worn, and Sam held it in his hands a second before sneaking back into the bedroom and laying it on the end of the bed near Dean's feet.

Sam brushed his teeth, put on a change of clothes, and was contemplating going out and finding something to bring back for breakfast when a knock at the door startled him. From the bedroom, Dean grumbled sleepily then settled.

Sam went quickly to the door to answer it before the person knocked again.

He opened the door to find a young woman standing there with a toaster in her hands. She was about Sam's age with straight, dark blonde hair and green eyes that widened when she saw Sam.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "You're the brother." It sounded distinctly awkward, like Sam made her uncomfortable on sight.

It seemed Sam wouldn't have much of his own identity in Eclipse River beyond 'the brother' and 'the non-lycan hunter' while he was in town. He snorted and stepped out on to the porch, closing the door behind him to keep the noise from reaching Dean. "My name's actually _Sam_."

The woman took a step back and stared at him uneasily a moment. Her gaze was unwavering and almost uncomfortable for its intensity. Then she introduced herself. "Selene."

Then there was a strained silence as they looked at one another.

"I brought back Dean's toaster," Selene finally said, holding up the appliance in her hands.

Sam looked down at it, baffled. "Um… okay?"

A crinkle formed between Selene's brows and she seemed to weigh the decision to explain to him or not. "Jaina let me borrow it a while back, and when I heard Dean was home…"

Sam smiled thinly at the way she so confidently called Eclipse River's Dean 'home' and took the toaster from her. "I'll take it in. Dean's asleep right now." When Selene didn't budge from her place, Sam resisted a sigh and asked, "Was there something else?"

Selene opened her mouth, closed it uncertainly, then stopped to study him again. She narrowed her eyes, the corners of her mouth tugged downward, then she asked in a surprisingly gentle voice, "How's he been?" She seemed genuinely concerned about Dean's well-being.

"Fine, I guess," Sam hedged, not really comfortable talking about his brother with this stranger.

"Good." Selene nodded to herself. "Good." She glanced up and the look on Sam's face must have plied her. She clarified, "The way he was when he left… none of us was sure he'd be okay. Then there was no word from him, and... I'm glad he's okay."

Despite himself, Sam was curious. He'd been away at Stanford when Dean found – and lost – the love of his life. By the time Dean came and got Sam at college, the wound was scabbed over and Dean was more or less the same big brother Sam remembered (besides the whole lycanthropy thing).

"He was pretty tore up, huh? When Skye died?" Sam opened in his best conversational tone, the one that worked to get people talking when he and Dean were looking for information on a hunt from civilians. Sam was the people person of the Winchester hunting team for a reason.

"Yeah…" Selene frowned to herself, crossing her arms over her chest. She spared a glance at Sam and seemed swayed by the look of worry on the younger Winchester's face. "You know, a lot of us in town, we didn't really believe he _loved_ her until we saw how he acted when he lost her."

Sam could only imagine. He remembered what it was like to lose Jess, but trying to imagine _Dean_ like that was hard. Dean didn't let people outside the family get that close. He insulated himself against that kind of pain.

But the idea of Dean letting go and falling in love like that honestly kind of scared Sam. He knew (as the little brother Dean had always protected like nothing else in the world mattered) that Dean's devotion and love could be diamond-hard and to the core. He had the capacity to be helplessly committed, locked on like a ballistic missile (which Sam always suspected was the reason Dean kept his relationship with women so casual – he knew he was prone to fall hard if he let down his guard).

Dean fell hard for Skye, and he lost her.

In the middle of his ruminations, Sam felt himself being watched. He looked up and saw Selene was giving him the critical eye again, part wary assessment and part of her dying to ask him something.

"What?"

Selene pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "You're a Barely… doesn't it _bother_ you? What your brother is?"

"No. Should it?" Sam returned airily.

Selene looked taken aback by Sam's nonchalance. She pursed her lips in thought. "You're a _hunter_, aren't you?"

"I'm Dean's brother first." Sam scowled at Selene. "Are you actually suggesting I would _hunt_ my own brother?"

"Isn't that what your kind does when they don't understand something? Kill it?"

Sam wanted to argue in his own defense, but the truth was he imagined any other hunter would shoot first, ask questions later. Even their own father, when he found out what Dean was, could think only of killing the wolf.

"Being a lycanthrope makes Dean happy," Sam answered finally, "he loves being the wolf. That's all I need to know."

Selene didn't have a response to that, but there was a lot said in her face. She looked surprised, then contemplative, and Sam could almost swear some of her animosity dissipated as she stood facing him and turning over his words.

Finally, she broke from standing rooted on the spot. "Tell Dean it's good to have him home… Sam." His name seemed to come out with effort, but she at least made the effort. Sam would take from that what encouragement he could. He really wanted to prove to these people, to the lycanthrope pack that Dean had almost joined, that he was not a threat.

"I will… thanks for the… toaster," Sam finished lamely.

Selene's green eyes glinted with something (maybe humor), then she turned and left.

Sam watched her leave, wondering if everyone in Eclipse River was going to be so hard to convince, when Dean's cell phone, stuffed in his pants pocket, began to sound out a classic rock tune.

Sam put the toaster down on the porch rail and retrieved the phone.

"Hello."

There was a breath, a pause. "Sam?"

Sam reflexively locked up. "Dad?"

"Where's your brother?"

Sam felt his jaw tense. "He's here. He hasn't been feeling well, so I'm letting him sleep in. What is it, Dad?" Their father never called just to say hi.

"I needed him to look up something in my journal. Something I wrote down years ago about a possible hunt… didn't know if it would ever come in handy. Now I need it."

"What are you hunting?"

"Don't worry about that," John said gruffly.

Sam fumed silently and briefly entertained the notion of hanging up. Sam didn't get along with John on a good day, but the last time the brothers had seen their father, John had tried to tear the wolf out of Dean. And damn near succeeded. He'd backed off under the pressure of both brothers to protect Dean's new identity, but John had not accepted it by any means when they parted ways.

"I can look it up for you," Sam bit out between clenched teeth.

"Fine." John paused a beat. "How's Dean?"

"I told you, he's sick."

"I mean is he still… _you know_."

Sam frowned. "That's not exactly something that's going to go away."

"He hasn't changed his mind about ridding himself of it?"

Sam really did almost hang up then. "_No_, Dad. Can't you accept that this is who he _is_ now? That this is what he _wants_?"

"I might if it made a damn bit of sense," John growled. "But _Dean_ should know better."

The emphasis made Sam's skin crawl. "Oh, so if this was _me_ you wouldn't be shocked at all, right? Just another predictable screw-up by the black sheep of the family."

"I just called for a note out of my journal," John retorted. "You're the one turning it into an argument, Sam."

Sam growled under his breath as he marched toward the Impala, "Hold on." He went to the trunk and began digging around for John's journal.

"You boys on a hunt?" John asked to fill the silence.

"Just finished a job," Sam answered evenly. "We're… visiting some old friends for a few days."

"Where are you?"

"Eclipse River, Oregon," Sam answered off-handedly as he found the journal and closed the trunk to use it as a makeshift desk.

There was a dead-silent pause on the phone line. "… Oregon… Eclipse River?"

"Yeah. I've got the journal, Dad, now what did you want out of it?"

John explained to Sam what he was looking for, and a lifetime of learning his father's scrawl and sense of organization made it fairly easy for Sam to find the obscure tidbit scribbled in the margin of a full page that John was after.

"That's all I needed," John said to wind up the call, "take care of your brother, Sam."

"You know I will." Without further parting words, Sam closed the phone and replaced the journal in the trunk.

A second later, Dean came shuffled out the front door barefoot in jeans and his hoodie. His hair was in disarray, his eyes sleepy, and he yawned before spotting his brother.

"Yo, Sammy… you get breakfast?"

Sam smirked as he approached the house. "_Did_ I or _will_ I?"

Dean offered up an exaggerated cough. "You'd make a sick person go out?"

Sam smiled. Dean only played the sick invalid card when he was feeling markedly better. He looked better, too. Not so pale or sweaty, and on closer inspection his eyes were free of that glassy look from yesterday.

"The air would do you good," Sam said as he mounted the stairs. "Go shower, then let's go eat."

Dean grumbled as he turned, "Ungrateful… all the times I doted on your sick ass when you were little… you'd think a little gratitude…" he looked to the side, stopped, and frowned. "Is that a _toaster_?"

To Be Continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Whatever his social failings, certain things could be said about John Winchester. He was meticulous and methodical on a hunt. He never gave up. He would seek out and take revenge on anything that hurt his family.

His hunt for the demon that killed his Mary, now ongoing for more than two decades, was still his all-consuming mission. He would find that son of a bitch and make it pay for what it did to Mary. That demon was John's first target, his primary goal, the first and foremost evil to suffer for crossing the Winchesters.

But now there was a second foe in John Winchester's sights. Someone had turned his oldest boy into a _creature_. A lycanthrope. A Winchester was harmed by the supernatural, and John Winchester would hunt it down and kill it. That was what John Winchester did. And now John had a likely town where the culprit to Dean's change could be found.

It didn't matter to him which order he killed them in, as long as they both paid in blood. That was the price for messing with the Winchesters.

To Be Continued…


	9. Chapter 9

"Maybe I should just go take a look around town," Sam waffled as they neared the home of the Lauchlans. "I mean, I don't want to be an intrusion."

"Dude, what the hell? An _intrusion_?"

Sam looked pointedly at his brother. "They want to see you, not me."

Resolution settled on Dean's face hard and cold. "And where I go, you come with. They will just have to deal." The angry lines of Dean's expression softened and he lowered his voice. "I don't want you walking around by yourself here, Sammy."

That made Sam raise his eyebrows. "You really think they're that dangerous?"

Dean scowled. "No. Maybe. I just… I remember what it was like being a human hunter in this town, and knowing their secret doesn't endear you to the locals, let me tell you. It would have been worse for me, too, if Skye hadn't…" Dean stopped, swallowed, then looked around the streets fronting the Lauchlan house. "Most of them are completely decent, and I know you. You get some time to work on them, work that puppy-dog look of yours, and they'll love you."

"But?" Sam prompted.

Dean looked closely at Sam, his eyes drifting toward unreadable again. "But there are some in Eclipse River that are going to hold being a Winchester against you, and you won't have being 'one of the pack' to keep you safe."

Sam studied his brother a second. "That why you showed Lucas your throat?" he asked, because Sam had _never_ seen Dean show submission to _anyone_ but John Winchester. But if it had been to safeguard Sam in some small measure… _that_ would make sense to Sam.

Dean nodded faintly.

Before either brother could say more, a voice called from the house, "You boys going to stand out there yapping all day, or are you going to come in?" Jaina was standing on the porch watching them.

Dean headed toward the house and Sam followed.

Jaina greeted Dean with a hug. To Sam, she gave a tight smile. "Come on in, you two," she ushered them inside. "You look better, Dean," she said as she closed the door behind them.

"Nothing a decent night's sleep couldn't cure," Dean answered, but the pitch in his voice made Sam look quickly at his brother. Dean was tense, like being in the house was an exercise in subtle torture.

From where he stood, Sam could see photographs on the mantel and walls, Skye's family, Skye herself… she was dutifully memorialized in her parents' home.

"Ramon!" Jaina called into the house, "Dean's here!"

"Wasn't sure we'd ever see you again, Dean," an older man said as he walked into the living room. Sam could see where Skye got her complexion (because it certainly wasn't from fair-skinned Jaina). Ramon Lauchlan had dark hair and dark eyes, like Skye.

Dean hesitated a heartbeat. "Truthfully, Ramon… I wasn't sure you ever would, either."

The two shook hands, measuring one another up. Then Ramon looked sharply at Sam. "So you're the brother. Town's talking about you."

Dean stiffened.

Sam stepped forward at once to break the newborn tension. He offered Ramon his hand. "Sam Winchester, sir."

Ramon shook Sam's hand and gave him a scrutinizing look for a second before the handshake ended. "Must be strange for you, your brother being one of us now."

Dean was ready to say something defensive, Sam could _feel_ it, but Sam said first, "Not really. I'm just glad he found something that makes him happy."

Ramon obviously hadn't expected that answer.

"Dean… I know you won't like it," Jaina interjected, "but I invited Lucas over."

Dean, in fact, did _not_ like that.

"He just wants to talk to you," Ramon said. "You need to let him. It's his due."

"Well, I don't have to be thrilled about it," Dean grumbled. He looked up and met Ramon's eyes squarely.

Suddenly, Jaina slipped up to Sam and gently took his arm. The physical contact surprised him, given how stand-offish she'd been with him so far. "Come on, Sam, let's give these two a few minutes to talk."

Sam looked to Dean as Jaina tried to coax him away, and when his older brother just gave a jerky nod, Sam let himself be taken out on to the porch.

There, Jaina let go of his arm and said, "I just want to give them some time. Ramon and Dean left things… on tense terms."

It was awkward being in Jaina's company without Dean as the buffer (knowing she didn't care much for him), but Sam cleared his throat to try anyway. "Mrs. Lauchlan, I know it's really after-the-fact, but I'm very sorry about your daughter."

Jaina looked at him carefully.

Sam shrugged. "I didn't know her, but I know Dean loved her. Trust me, for Dean to fall in love… she had to be pretty remarkable."

"She was," Jaina smiled to herself, then moved toward the patio furniture and sat on the bench swing. "We were terrified when Skye took Dean as her mate. He's a _hunter_…" Jaina frowned at him. "Of course… so are you. Maybe you can't imagine how much that scared us."

"Actually, I can," Sam offered. He ventured closer. "I grew up in this life, but I never wanted it. I hated hunting, but it was the family business. I didn't have a choice. And I…" Sam took a steeling breath, "I lost people I loved because of it. So, yes, I can imagine what that must have been like for you."

"We never even tried to tell Skye she couldn't see him." Jaina chuckled dryly. "You didn't _tell_ Skye to do anything. She followed her heart, always did, and it led her to Dean." She looked up at Sam then, towering over her, and said, "You can sit down."

Sam did, on the rocking chair perpendicular to the swing. When he looked toward Jaina again, she was eying him closely.

"What?" Sam asked.

"He's very protective of you," Jaina commented.

"Dean?" Sam laughed. "Yeah… sometimes _too_ protective." Sam saw an opportunity; Jaina was listening, so he talked. "Our mom died when I was a baby, and our dad… we were just on our own a lot of the time. Dean became my primary caretaker. My whole life, growing up, I was rarely out of Dean's sight. It's like he made it his personal mission in life to keep me safe."

"So why weren't you with him? When he came to hunt Trey?"

The mere mention of those dark days in the Winchester family made Sam sit back stiffly. "I'd finally had enough of living a life I didn't want. I was old enough to say no. I walked away from hunting, had a huge fight with our dad, and left for college. Dean stayed behind." Sam frowned. "Don't you already know some of this? I mean, surely Dean told you…"

Jaina shook her head. "Dean never spoke of his family… not to me. I don't know if Skye ever knew about you, but Dean didn't open up to anyone… except Skye."

"Huh," Sam mumbled, at first surprised by that until he thought about the fact no one at college knew he had a brother and father until he got close to Jessica and she made him comfortable with letting people peek into his past. By his omission, his college buddies figured him an orphan for a long time. It was just painful to bring it all up, especially to strangers. It made sense it would be hard for Dean, too.

"Well," Sam said at length, "he looks pretty close with you."

Jaina grimaced and smiled at the same time, looked down at her hands, and said, "I was the one who found him… did he ever tell you that?"

"No… found him?"

Jaina nodded. "When Skye… when the car hit her, Dean carried her home. I… I still have nightmares about opening the door and seeing him standing there _holding_ her…" Jaina took a breath and pressed her lips together. "We took our daughter, and then Dean just bolted. Ran off." Jaina glanced up at him. "Honestly, I didn't think another thought about him that night. Jeremy came to the house, said he'd followed Dean and confronted him. Dean told Jeremy what happened to Skye, about the car.

"When he didn't come back the next morning, I… I had to find him, for Skye's sake. So I tracked him to a clearing in the woods. He was in shock. He'd slept outside in the cold all night." A ghost of pain crossed her face. "That was the moment I understood Dean loved Skye as much as Skye loved him."

Sam was engrossed. He'd never known any of this before, and he wasn't about to interrupt Jaina.

"I coaxed him back to the house and took him in. He was so… empty. Sometimes, I wasn't sure he even knew where he was. I couldn't get a word out of him except he kept saying 'sorry'. I tried to feed him, but he barely touched anything." Jaina's eyes began watering. "One night, I went into the bedroom we'd let him use, sat down on the bed, and told him… I told Dean I didn't blame him. That I knew he would never do anything to hurt Skye. I told him I knew he loved her." Jaina smiled sadly. "Dean sat up and pulled me into the tightest hug you can imagine, and I just let him. I think, I _like_ to think, that it helped Dean a little. After that, he let me touch him. When I talked to him, he might not answer but I could tell he listened." Jaina wiped at her eyes. "Lucas came by a few times, saw Dean… I think that really convinced him that Dean wasn't a threat to us. That's when the town voted, and we offered to bring Dean into the pack.

"Skye's funeral was a few days later, and then Dean just disappeared. We never heard from him again. Until now."

Sam hated that Dean went through such a rough time and Sam hadn't been there to help him. Dean might not have done much after Jess died, but he was _there_, and that had been comforting. Even if Dean had gone back to John to be with family, he hadn't told their father what happened, because John only recently learned that his oldest son was a lycanthrope. Dean had carried that weight, that grief, alone, and Sam hated that.

"Dean doesn't talk about Skye much," Sam began softly, "but when he does… I never thought my brother could be that in love."

Jaina smiled, then her eyes shifted sideways and she came to attention.

Sam looked over his shoulder and saw Lucas approaching the house. He mounted the steps and came toward the two on the porch. "Jaina…" he said with affection in his tone, then a flat, "Sam Winchester."

That aura of John Winchester that was about Lucas had Sam rising to his feet before he really thought about it. Jaina jumped to hers, and Lucas stopped and eyed Sam steadily.

"Dean's inside with Ramon," Jaina said to break the silence.

Lucas kept staring at Sam, then gave a stiff nod and turned to go into the house.

Sam started forward on reflex.

Jaina snagged him by the elbow and stayed him. "Don't…"

"But…"

"Dean's not in danger. Lucas wouldn't harm him."

It went against Sam's gut to not go in and give his brother back-up, but he knew that Dean wasn't the shunned one here… it was he. Maybe if Dean didn't have to feel like he was literally standing between Lucas and his little brother, the meeting wouldn't be so tense.

Besides which, he felt like he was getting somewhere with Jaina… like she wasn't just seeing him as a despicable hunter bent on murdering half the town.

Clenching his jaw the whole time, he gently waved off Jaina's hand and strolled to the porch rail.

"Does it really not bother you?"

Sam turned to Jaina. "Does what not bother me?"

Jaina was sizing Sam up curiously. "What your brother has become."

Sam rested his weight back against the rail and crossed his arms with a shrug. He had a feeling he was going to get tired of that question pretty quickly in Eclipse River. "Truthfully, the first time I saw his wolf… sure, I freaked out. But I was never _afraid_ of him. Dean's my brother. I trust him with my life." Sam smirked. "It took a little while to get used to, but _now_… I really can't imagine my brother any other way."

Jaina looked startled.

Sam grinned. "Don't you dare tell him I said so, but when Dean's the wolf, he's _beautiful_."

Jaina beamed; she almost laughed.

"Sometimes," Sam confessed, "I envy Dean what he is. I see how much peace the wolf brings him, how much _happiness_, and I wish I was like him." Sam shook himself from his thoughts. "No… it really doesn't bother me."

"You're an unusual Barely, then," Jaina mused aloud.

Sam shrugged. "Well, I'm used to the supernatural. But even if I wasn't… I can't imagine hating something that made Dean happy… not if I loved him." A sour knot formed in his stomach as he thought of John, so narrow-minded and black-and-white, intent on killing the wolf because it was different and made Dean inhuman.

Jaina had a strange half-smile on her face and she shook her head. "For hunters, you Winchesters are remarkably open-minded."

Sam thought of John and frowned.

Just then the front door opened and Jaina and Sam both turned immediately to see who would come out. First it was Lucas, and then Dean followed. Immediately, Dean's eyes sought out Sam, checked on him, and only when he saw his little brother safe did a measure of tension leave his posture.

Lucas turned back to Dean and said simply, "Let me know when you've decided." Then, with that, he left.

Jaina went to Dean as soon as Lucas was gone. "When you've decided what?"

Dean looked down at Jaina, paused, then glanced up at Sam who was approaching at an ambling pace. "He still wants to know if I'm joining the pack."

"And?" Jaina prompted.

Dean pressed his lips together. "I still need to think about it."

That Dean might be even considering it at all made Sam's jaw drop.

Jaina nodded. "I understand." She looked up when a thought occurred to her. "The Gregories are having a barbeque tonight… most of the town's invited. Why don't you come?" Jaina glanced over her shoulder at Sam. "You and Sam."

Dean smiled crookedly. "You know me and free food."

Jaina gave him a quick hug, bid them both farewell, then went back inside.

Once they were alone, Dean turned to Sam and snorted. "What did I tell you, dude? A few minutes to work on them, those puppy eyes… instant Sammy love." Together, they began walking side by side away from the house.

"So, _are_ you thinking about it? About joining the pack?"

Dean halted. Sam stopped and turned to watch his brother. Dean looked torn and as far as Sam was concerned, that said a hell of a lot.

"The full moon's just over a week away," Dean finally said, resuming his stride but at a slower pace. "I know there's no reason to stay, and we should probably be moving on, but…"

Sam smiled. Dean was trying to play it nonchalant, but Sam knew his brother was dying to run with the pack. "Dean… we can stay, man. As long as you want."

Dean cracked a brief, grateful smile, then nodded his thanks.

To Be Continued…


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates, guys. When the Muse is actually playing nice and willing to work on my original story (which she has been lately), that gets precedence over fanfic. Do I get off the hook since it's at least a long chapter?

* * *

Sam acted like he was completely comfortable with the idea of going to a lycan town barbeque, but as Dean pulled up in front of the house and turned off the engine, the younger Winchester felt a knot of uneasiness in his stomach.

Honestly, he wasn't sure his being there was going to do Dean any favors. The townspeople were leery of _Sam_; Dean was one of them. Sam didn't want to be the reason Dean didn't enjoy this thing if all his big brother ended up doing was keeping one eye and ear on Sam the entire time.

Just as Dean parked the car in front of the house (already busy with guests), Sam said, "Look, Dean... maybe I should go back to the house." It was so strange for a Winchester to say that; it came off the tongue like a foreign language. Sam felt more natural reciting a Latin exorcism incantation.

Dean looked over at his brother in concern. "You feeling okay? You're not coming down with that crap I had, are you?"

For a second, Sam considered lying and saying yes. "No, just... I think you'll have a better time without me making things weird."

Unexpectedly, Dean chuckled.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Dude... this is a lycanthrope barbeque party and you're worried _you'll_ make this weird. Come on... that's funny."

Sam cracked a smile. "I just…" Sam's voice dropped, "want you to get to enjoy being with your own kind."

Dean looked seriously at Sam. "This is exactly why I want you to come." At Sam's puzzled look, Dean made a face. It was his 'bordering on a dreaded chick flick moment' face. "You remember once when I told you that _you_ were my pack?"

"Yeah." Truthfully, that moment was seared into his memory, so poignant and powerful and something Sam would never admit to Dean.

"Well, damnit, I meant that. They," Dean thumbed over his shoulder at the party guests, "only see lycan and Barely. That's it with them. To them, you and I are entirely different species." Dean's eyes hardened. "Well, I'm not okay with that. You're my _brother_, Sammy, and I'm _not_ trading you in for a new family. Period. They want to bring me back into the fold, they better learn to _love_ you, because I'm not going anywhere without you."

Sam started to smile, an exaggerated and saccharine grin to mask how truly touched he was. "Wow, that was really _sweet_, Dean."

Dean scowled. "Oh, bite me."

"I'm afraid you'd bite back," Sam countered.

Dean flipped Sam the bird.

Sam laughed and trailed to look out Dean's window at the house and the guests meandering toward the back. "Honestly, Dean, I want to be part of this." Dean glanced askance at Sam, who continued, "This is _you_, a whole side of you that's been pretty much a mystery to me. I want to learn, I want to understand this part of you… but I don't want to ruin this for you. If my being here is making you unpopular…"

"When have I ever cared about winning any damn popularity contest?" Dean snapped indignantly. "And let me tell you, I am _plenty_ unpopular with a lot of people in this town, and I managed that _entirely_ on my own. Nothing to do with you, Sam."

Sam waffled, "Well…"

"Get your ass out of the car, bitch," Dean groused as he opened his own door.

Sam did as he was told, rounding the front of the car quickly to stand next to his brother. "Is that word even an insult here?"

Dean's eyes suddenly twinkled mischievously. "How about you try it out on someone and tell me how it goes?"

"Antagonize a woman who could literally tear my throat out… no thanks." Sam took a breath and said. "I'll stay if you promise me you won't spend the whole time babysitting me like I'm two."

Dean made a face and opened his mouth to speak.

"I _can_ take care of myself," Sam interrupted. "_Enjoy_ yourself, Dean, or seriously, I'm gone." Sam refused to be the excuse Dean used to keep himself away from the pack.

Dean studied Sam closely a moment, then shrugged. "All right, Sam… but if you get rabies, don't come crying to me. Now let's go."

Dean and Sam walked up to the house and followed the sound of voices around to the back. The Gregories' house backed up to the woods, and thanks to the absence of any kind of fence their backyard became trees. It looked like the whole neighborhood had been invited. People were walking around, standing in groups talking, children were running around laughing and tussling.

When they came to a stop just past the house to take in their surroundings, several people turned and noticed Dean and his human brother.

"Dean!"

Both Winchesters turned at the familiar voice and saw Jaina coming toward them. She embraced Dean. "I'm so glad you decided to come," she pulled away and looked toward Sam, favoring him with a smile. "Hello, Sam."

"Hi… great party," Sam answered.

Jaina's smile swept crookedly to one side. "You haven't partied 'til you've partied with lycans."

"You kidding?" Dean grumped. "Sam can barely party with Barelys. Frankly, I'm worried about the kid."

Sam whacked Dean in the arm.

Jaina pretended not to notice. "Make yourselves welcome." With that, she left them to mingle.

Immediately, the two brothers angled for an empty picnic table. Sam sat on the table top, his feet on the bench, and Dean sat on the bench itself. The 'sit back and observe' act was typical of Sam at a party, but Dean was usually in the thick of things, chasing tail as the saying went. And here, he very literally _could_ chase tail. This time, he didn't. In fact, Sam had yet to see Dean hit on anyone in Eclipse River, and that in itself was mind-boggling to Sam, who was used to seeing Dean turn his head at just about anything with tits.

They weren't left alone for long. Out of nowhere, the same little girl from the park the day before came running up to Dean like they were long-time friends. She raced right up to Dean, barely stopping shy of vaulting into his lap, and she beamed. "Hi! Remember me?"

Dean's eyebrows rose. "Ah…"

"Whitney, right?" Sam answered.

Whitney frowned at Sam, like he'd stepped on the punch line to her joke, then turned her smile back on Dean. "Wanna see a really cool bug?"

Dean grimaced. "That, uh… that sounds…"

Whitney was not going to take no for an answer. She grabbed one of Dean's hands with both of hers and began to pull insistently. "Come on!"

Sam chuckled and pushed at his brother's shoulder. "Go on, man." When Dean grudgingly stood, Sam planted his foot in Dean's ass for an extra shove for good measure. Dean cast Sam a dirty look as Whitney dragged Dean away.

Sam settled back and just watched. Whitney led Dean across the yard, and Dean wasn't putting up much resistance despite his tortured expressions. Sam sat up straighter when he saw the pack react to Dean leaving his brother's side. They turned to look at Dean. Then they began to approach him.

For a second, Sam tensed, his training telling him to think the worst. But they didn't attack Dean. They said hi to him, gathered around him, welcomed him… brought him into their group. Whitney remained at Dean's side through all the greetings, proudly holding Dean's hand like his being coaxed into their group was entirely her doing.

At first, Dean looked uncertain about becoming the center of attention. But as Sam watched, he saw his brother relax. These were people he knew. They were like him. They were accepting him home.

They were pack.

It made Sam miss Jess, oddly enough, but he was happy for Dean. He was glad they'd come.

"You're here."

Sam startled and turned to see Selene standing next to the picnic table. Her eyes were on Dean, but when Sam looked over at her she glanced at him.

"Hey… yeah, Jaina invited me," Sam said, feeling like he had to prove he was allowed to be there.

Selene considered that a moment, seemed to come to grips with it, then she cocked her head. "I'm sorry for this morning, if I made you feel..."

"Like a two-headed circus freak?" Sam offered.

Selene smirked. "Yeah. It's a reflex. Hunters have only brought our kind suffering."

"Dean's a hunter," Sam pointed out, relieved this conversation was not as barbed as their earlier exchange.

"He's lycan," Selene countered, like that was answer enough.

"Now… but he wasn't always," Sam stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and waited for her response to that.

Selene paused. "No, but even as a Barely, he loved a lycan. He loved Skye, and that protected us."

"Do you think I just 'kinda like' my brother?" Sam asked rhetorically.

Selene looked quickly at Sam, who merely lifted his eyebrows in a 'well?' expression.

Selene looked abashed. "I guess it's not really different." She looked toward Dean, mingling with the pack, then took it upon herself to sit on the picnic table next to Sam. Sam watched her watching Dean, and when he caught her smile slightly to herself, he jumped on it. "What?"

Selene shook her head faintly. "He's so _different_. Maybe if he'd been more like this when he was here before… maybe we would have understood from the start what Skye saw in him." Selene glanced over at Sam speculatively. "Is this difference you?"

Sam sat back, startled at the point-blank question, then he stammered, "Well, no. I mean, not entirely, uh… last time he was here… let's just say our family was going through a rough patch." Sam didn't know exactly how rough for Dean, but he knew it must have been bad if Dean would ditch their father to hunt solo. He didn't know. For the most part, that was a dark age in the Winchester family drama no one discussed.

Eager to move the subject to something else, Sam asked, "So, ah… were you and Skye friends?"

Selene's expression fell slightly. "Not really… I knew her, but she was older. Ran with Jeremy and Trey mostly."

Sam knew how that ended and saw no reason to drag that up. "What do you remember most about her?"

Selene, watching Dean once again, smiled. "She was tough. She bossed Jeremy and Trey around, but all in good fun. She was kind. Willful, too. Damn, she had a mind of her own."

Sam chuckled. He was getting a better picture of a woman he could easily see Dean loving.

"She loved him," Selene finished softly. Her eyes were still on Dean. Sam glanced up and saw Dean sitting with his back against a tree, Whitney curled in his lap. Dean had resigned himself to his little adoring fan, and looked almost content with his arm wrapped absently around her while he watched the crowd mill and mingle.

Sam suddenly saw a Dean Winchester that might have been. One who had put down roots in Eclipse River, joined the extended family of the pack, taken a wife, become a father.

Much like the life Sam might have had, all lost in fire.

There were moments when Sam hated their lives and their work with a passion.

"He loved her," Sam said with a hitch in his throat.

Selene turned to look intently at Sam, and she smiled… it went all the way up to her green eyes and glittered in shades of jade and moss. Then her gaze shifted to the left, focused past Sam, and her expression went deadly serious. "Oh, _shit_."

Sam turned in the direction of Selene's eyes to see a young man marching purposefully across the yard, fuming and furious.

He stomped right past the picnic table, weaved his way through the crowd, and headed straight for Dean.

Sam was up on his feet in an instant, moving forward.

Dean had finally seen the man approaching him. Sam saw Dean's face go cold. He moved the girl out of his lap and stood to face him head-on.

The pack realized what was going on and everyone stopped talking. Everyone turned to watch.

The new arrival strode right up to Dean and stopped just outside striking distance. Then the two were moving, slowly circling each other, eyes never wavering from each other, their heads low and gazes intent. When Sam got closer, he could see their eyes were both golden.

When they came to a tense stop, a crowd having formed a half-circle around them, the young man spoke with a snarl, "You have a lot of fucking nerve showing up here, _Dean_."

Sam reached the ring of spectators clustered around the two men and tried to shoulder his way through. Hands came out to hold him back, and since no one had thrown any punches yet, Sam thought he might help the situation by heeding their unspoken commands to halt. For now.

Dean was glaring at the man, his eyes back to their natural color but with a withering iciness in them. "Lucas told me I was welcome here anytime. You have nothing to say about it, Jeremy."

Sam stiffened at the name. 'Oh, shit' was right.

Jeremy seethed. "I have more to say on it than _anyone_. I was her best friend!"

"And I was her _mate_," Dean returned in a low, dangerous voice.

That only infuriated Jeremy more. "A hunter for a mate… the mistake that cost Skye her life!"

Dean lunged at Jeremy without warning. A punch connected before anyone could do a thing to stop it. Sam expected intervention, but the pack just _watched_, the same way a pack of dogs stayed out of the fight of two dogs going at each other.

Jeremy staggered back from the strike and brought up a hand to cradle his mouth where Dean's knuckles had busted open skin.

Maybe the pack wouldn't take sides, but Sam sure as hell would. He fought off the hands holding him back. Dean was under attack, and he wasn't going to stand around and watch. He detached from the watching crowd and moved to Dean's side, ready to fight with him.

"You know you're the reason she died!" Jeremy accused hysterically, licking blood from his lip, then he took a good look at Sam standing just behind Dean's shoulder. Dean's rage ratcheted up a few notches at the attention turned on his little brother.

"And look… he brings _another one_ among us," Jeremy sneered.

"Jeremy, stop this," Jaina barked as she moved to the front of the gathered pack members. "Stop blaming Dean for what happened."

"If it weren't for him, she would be here!" Jeremy answered piteously. "You can't say that isn't true."

Dean flinched and practically shied from Jaina.

"No one made Skye love Dean," Jaina said calmly, though her voice carried a hint of distress.

"But she did, and now she's dead. Because of _him_, Trey is dead," Jeremy shot a fierce look at Dean. "You shouldn't be here. You have no right to show your face in this town."

"You should go home, Jeremy, you're upset," Ramon added his deep voice to his wife's.

Jeremy looked at both of Skye's parents, seemingly bewildered at the side they took. "Really? You're going to side with _him_? When he's responsible for your daughter's death?"

"I would have done anything to save her, you bastard!" Dean growled, body almost shaking with anger.

Jeremy laughed sarcastically. "Sure… right. But that's not what hunters are known for, is it? They're killers. I'll give you that, _Dean_, you're good at what you do."

"_Jeremy_!" Ramon's voice boomed.

Jeremy finally backed away with a parting warning to the others. "You trust them, you're risking your life. Skye trusted him, and look what happened." Jeremy leveled a last furious look at Dean. "Hunters mean death… always have and always will." Then he turned and stormed off.

The crowd began to dissipate uneasily. Jaina turned immediately toward Dean. "I'm so sorry, Dean."

Dean was breathing heavily, muscles rigid. "Was going to happen sooner or later," he said tersely, clenching his fists at his side. "_God_, I wanted to fight him," Dean muttered darkly.

"Why didn't you?" Sam asked, honestly curious. Dean wasn't one to hold back when it came to flying fists.

Dean barked out a laugh. He glanced over at his younger brother, his expression taut with fury and agony all at once. "Because everything I do in this damn town is going to be about Skye. I screw up, piss everyone off, and that means Skye was wrong." 'Wrong to love me' Dean's words implied but did not explicitly say.

All Dean had left of Skye to safeguard was her memory. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was all Dean had, and he would keep her legacy in Eclipse River safe. He wouldn't become her _mistake_.

Loyal to the memory of a lost love himself, Sam could understand all too well. With dignity and respect, Sam nodded his comprehension.

"Thank you, Dean," Jaina said, then to Sam she commented gravely, "Jeremy was going to be the worst; he's never gotten past what happened."

Sam was tempted to point out that no one got past a vibrant life cut short too soon, but given the present company it hardly seemed necessary.

Jaina sighed. "I better go tell Lucas what happened. He needs to know."

Before he could stop himself, Sam wondered aloud, "Does _everything_ that goes on here get reported to him?"

Jaina just smirked. "Pretty much. He's not one of your town mayors… he's a lycan alpha. He has to know about any conflicts. He'll probably talk to Jeremy about this."

"Don't go," Dean spoke up wearily, "I hate for you to miss the barbeque because of me."

Jaina looked at Dean. "I'm not. I'm missing it because of Jeremy. And don't worry, I'll make sure he knows it." She smiled to take the edge off her warning.

"Jaina," Ramon said, approaching his wife, his hand touching her waist fondly. "I'll go talk to Lucas. You stay."

"Are you sure?"

Ramon nodded. "You know I'm not that wild about beef. Venison barbeque, sure. Beef? I won't miss it."

Jaina gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. After Ramon left, Jaina turned to the Winchester boys and said, "Try not to let this ruin your time."

Dean turned to Sam when they were relatively alone and said, "And _that_ is why I didn't want you walking around in this town alone."

"That Jeremy guy was intense. Was he always like that?"

Dean nodded. "Skye described him as a pit bull once. Of course, _she_ said it affectionately."

"When he's not angry about Dean," Selene said from behind Sam, "Jeremy's actually a nice guy."

Sam turned and Dean looked past Sam at the young woman. Dean's eyebrows crept toward his hairline skeptically. Before he could talk, an old man came up and clapped Dean on the shoulder like he was a dear old drinking buddy. "Ah, Jeremy ain't so bad."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Well, forgive me, Jasper, if I call that a load of bullshit."

"You're being a might harsh on the boy," Jasper chided, looking first at Dean then sliding a shrewd look at Sam. "I figure it ain't so different from the way lots of folks are going to be thinking of this tree of a brother of yours."

Dean snorted.

Seeing his chance to gain an ally in the old man, Sam offered his hand. "Sam Winchester, sir."

Jasper eyed the hand thoughtfully, then shook it. "Jasper Crandon. Now, tell me, do you keep your brother out of trouble or get him into it?"

Sam smiled. "Dean's _definitely_ the trouble-maker, sir."

"That's right, Saint Sammy," Dean teased.

Jasper chuckled. "Well then, at the risk of taking him from your good influence, mind if I steal your brother for a sec?"

"Take him. When you get tired of him, just tie him to the bumper of the black car out front."

Dean gave Sam a look, but Jasper just chuckled and tugged Dean away.

Sam turned to Selene.

A devilish spark lighted in Selene's eyes, and she asked Sam, "Having fun yet?"

"Well," Sam answered diplomatically, "it's not boring." Sam looked back in the direction Jasper had taken Dean, leading him to a group of men who seemed to be sharing stories. Sam couldn't hear what was being said, but he didn't really care. He took a moment to study Dean's body language. He was keyed up, still fit to fight, but beyond that he looked okay. There wasn't the 'screw this, I'm outta here' carriage to his body that Sam could detect when his brother had lost all patience.

"So long as Dean's having a good time," Sam added in response to Selene's question.

Her expression softened at that and her smile became sincere instead of wicked. She, too, looked toward Dean.

Sam casually headed back to the picnic table. It was on the periphery, out of the way, and the pack seemed more comfortable with him that way. Sam figured if it was on the outskirts and unobtrusive enough, they'd get used to him being around and not being a disruptive presence. Strangely enough, Sam was using a lot of the old tricks he used to employ for befriending neighborhood strays when he was a kid. Whatever worked.

He was surprised that Selene trailed along after him, but then that was something the sulky dogs used to do when they were starting to warm up to him.

Once perched again on the empty picnic table, Sam looked around the backyard gathering. He was at the only table there, and there was not a single bag of chips in sight. There _was_ a barbeque grill, but it was unmanned and had no fire. Sam kicked himself for not noticing that detail earlier, but the lycan socializing had preoccupied him.

"Hey, Selene?" Sam asked.

She raised her eyebrows in a 'yes?' gesture.

"If this is a barbeque, where's the food?"

That downright wolfish smile blossomed again on Selene's face, mega-watt, and Sam began to feel very, _very_ uneasy.

As if on cue, a call went up from someone near the back of the yard.

"Here comes the beef!"

Everyone at the barbeque stopped and turned attentively to watch as figures began to emerge from the trees.

Sam's jaw dropped. He expected to see people laden with plates and grocery bags joining the party. What he saw instead were five people (Tanya the only one of whom he recognized) on foot, herding toward the backyard a cow.

A live, mooing, ambling cow.

Sam, baffled, looked over at Selene.

Her eyes were no longer green, but gold.

Tanya and her friends, using arm movements and noises, maneuvered the cow into the middle of the yard. When the herders stopped advancing, the cow stopped and looked around.

Then Sam's eyes widened as _everyone_ started to take off their clothes. All of them, from old man Jasper to little Whitney, were stripping down and tossing their clothes aside. Their gazes were intent on the cow. Sam looked around and every pair of eyes was the same color… lycan gold.

Sam searched quickly for Dean, boggled and looking to his brother for some sense of normal. Dean was a beat behind the others, but he was taking his clothes off, too. Briefly, Dean flicked a glance at Sam where the younger brother sat on the picnic table. Dean's glance was golden.

The townsfolk, one by one, crouched naked on the grass.

Sam stared as, one after another, the human forms surrendered to wolf. Sam had seen Dean change plenty of times, but it was different watching a whole group of lycans turn together.

Sam shot another looked in Dean's direction, but Dean had already changed. Even without the glint of gold from Dean's amulet, Sam realized that he could still pick Dean out of the crowd just by how his wolf looked.

The cow, suddenly surrounded by wolves, panicked and tried to find a route of escape.

The wolves closed in on the trapped cow, heads low and eyes locked on target.

Sam didn't know who lunged first, but one wolf darted forward and snapped at flesh. Then another. The cow bellowed and tried to run.

It didn't get far. The wolves descended on the cow en masse. Some bit at flank, others clamped on to the cow's throat, others at belly.

The cow flailed and cried, but after the attack began the prey animal only stayed upright a moment before it went down. The wolves practically swarmed. Sam was grateful when the cow's piteous cries finally ceased.

Then it was a blur of gray bodies, tails, and blood as the wolves began to feed.

Sam watched mutely, not sure what he was supposed to think, much less do. He tried to wrap his head around the fact that this Discovery Channel scene had been a relatively normal neighborhood barbeque party only a couple of minutes ago.

The feeding carried on until the wolves' hunger was satiated. As individual wolves began to move away from the kill, Sam could finally see that there wasn't much left of the poor thing.

He was still sitting on the picnic table, unmoved from his spot since the attack began, when he saw one wolf break from the pack and head in Sam's direction. It only took Sam a second to recognize Dean, the gold amulet peeking through the coat at the wolf's throat. Dean was trotting toward Sam, a bounce in his stride and his muzzle stained with blood.

Dean went up to Sam and looked up at him, eyes bright as he licked his lips.

Sam looked down at his brother a second, then did the only thing he could think to do. He dug into his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and scooted down to the table's bench seat as he took Dean's face gently in hand and started to wipe off the blood. "You're a mess, dude," Sam chided.

Dean stood still, unusually compliant, and let Sam clean him up. As he did, Sam had a brief moment when he remembered Dean doing the same to him when Sam was little, only the culprit had been sauce instead of blood.

When Dean was relatively clean, Sam drew away and studied his brother. What caught his attention instead was a heavy silence in the air. Sam looked up and froze. The entire yard full of wolves was motionless, watching him and Dean.

The full brunt of next to two dozen wolves staring straight at him was overpowering, and Sam felt that one of them had to break first. Sam had learned better than to try to stare down a dog he didn't know and trust, and he wasn't about to wait and see how far that went with wolves.

Sam swallowed and looked back down at Dean. "Hey… you ready to get out of here?"

Dean cocked his head at Sam a second, then whirled and bounded back to his pile of scattered clothes.

Sam stood and headed toward the car ahead of Dean, more than ready to escape the intense collective scrutiny of the pack. Before leaving the yard entirely, however, he turned and addressed the group (lest they think he was fleeing in disgust), "Thanks for having me."

Without waiting for any answer, he turned and went back to the car to wait for Dean.

To Be Continued…


	11. Chapter 11

Whatever discomfort Sam felt after witnessing the lycan idea of a barbeque, he really could not fault the effect it had on Dean. One would be hard-pressed to suspect he'd been ill only a day ago to look at him now. Spending any time as the wolf always put a spring in Dean's step and a quick smile on his face. That had been missing since they arrived in Eclipse River, and Sam knew it wasn't all due to the flu. Dean had been edgy from the minute they got there, and after watching the show-down with Jeremy, Sam understood why. Sam knew, too (even if Dean would never confess it), that a lot of it was heartache. They were in Skye's hometown, after all.

But the barbeque had been just what Dean needed. It combined all the things that improved his mood immeasurably. He got to be the wolf, got to kill something, _and_ got to eat. The Dean Winchester triple recipe for happy.

After they went back to the house, Dean, suddenly full of go-get-'em and high spirits, decided he wanted to take a look around and see what the condition of the place really was. He'd been less interested when the tail-end of the flu had been making him drag ass. Now Dean was ready to take on the world. Starting with the house.

Dean didn't make it past the carport/garage. Skye's Jeep was still there, seemingly untouched since the last time she drove it. Sam hung back and watched for a little while, honestly kind of touched by the way Dean slowed down on approaching it, as if in reverence, and reached out to touch the hood like an old friend. It was the kind of treatment a car had to be a muscle car to get from Dean, but because it had been Skye's he cared.

Sam decided Dean might prefer some time alone and went back in the house.

Watching the cow get slaughtered in front of him had killed Sam's appetite at the time, but he was starting to get hungry. He hadn't had dinner, after all.

He knew Dean wouldn't like it, but Sam figured he would be fine going into town on his own for dinner. With that, he set about searching for Dean's keys to the Impala.

It proved to be harder than he expected. Dean's duffle had seemingly exploded. Tossed across the unmade bed, pillow still holding the imprint of Dean's head, was the shirt Dean had worn yesterday. On the nightstand, Dean's wallet and a half-used pack of Sudafed. But no keys. In the bathroom, a used towel hung from the towel rack. Dean's razor, a can of shaving cream, toothbrush, and tube of toothpaste cluttered the counter. Inexplicably, a pair of dirty socks were on the back of the couch as Sam passed the living room. He spotted Dean's leather jacket hanging on a coat hook near the front door and made a bee line. Fishing through the pockets, he finally found the car keys. Palming them, Sam looked back around the interior of the house and smirked to himself. For someone who decried the atrocity of settling down and making a home, Dean's stuff sure had _sprawled_ quickly.

Just as Sam turned toward the front door, there was a knock.

Startled, Sam opened the door to find Tanya and Jaina on the other side. Tanya was toting a large brown sack in one hand.

"Oh, hello, Jaina, Tanya," Sam greeted a tad awkwardly. "Umm… Dean's out in the carport."

"Nice to know," Tanya replied, deadpan.

Both women just stood there looking at him.

Sam frowned. "So, ah… what brings you two here, then?"

Tanya held up the paper sack. "King-sized meal for you." At Sam's suddenly wary look, Tanya laughed. "It's just roasted chicken and some sides."

Sam's stomach growled at the mention. "You didn't have to do that."

"Course I did," Tanya replied airily, a downright wicked light glinting in her eye, "you didn't eat a bite at the barbeque."

"Uh, yeah… about that," Sam slid a look at Jaina, one eyebrow rising. "That was very… _deliberate_."

Jaina had the good graces to blush in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for springing that on you like that, but the way you talked about your brother's lycanthropy, you came off as completely accepting of it."

"And you wanted to see if I could walk the walk," Sam finished as he stepped aside to let both women enter.

Tanya headed straight for the kitchen while Jaina hung back with Sam. "You have to admit," Jaina said as the two of them moved toward the kitchen in the back, "being a guest at a lycan barbeque was a good test of just how okay you are with what we are."

Sam chuckled. "Well, I may never look at steaks the same way again, but if you're expecting me to freak out and bolt, you'll have to do better than that."

Tanya snorted as the two walked into the kitchen. Skye's home was small enough she could hear them the entire time. "The way you handled yourself today, I don't imagine there's anything could make you prove to be a lycanphobe. And if you have anything else to say about it, say it over dinner. This chicken's getting colder by the second. Come on," Tanya gestured for Sam to sit at the table, where she'd set out a plate and started pulling out containers of food from the bag.

It smelled delicious, but Sam still protested, "Really, you didn't have to go to the trouble."

"I should warn you, Sam Winchester," Tanya snarled teasingly, a touch of gold coloring her eyes, "I'm not used to having to force my cooking on people. This could get out of hand very quickly."

Sam chuckled. "Wouldn't want that. Sitting down, ma'am." Sam plunked himself in the chair.

While Tanya dished out her small banquet on to Sam's plate, Jaina asked, "What's Dean doing out there?"

"Trying to get the Jeep running." Sam cocked his head thoughtfully. "In almost four years, no one in town ever had a use for it?"

Jaina smiled frailly. "I couldn't quite bring myself to loan it out. Skye was kind of… _possessive_ of her Jeep. She was pretty strict about who she let drive it."

That made Sam laugh. Sure sounded familiar. "I know how that is."

Tanya finished serving Sam and made her way to the cupboard to survey the contents. Jaina joined Sam at the table while Sam dug into dinner.

"Wow… this is fantastic, Tanya," he said around a mouthful of potatoes and gravy."

"Damn right it is," Tanya muttered, but Sam could see the tick of a smile at the corner of her mouth while she peered into the pantry.

"Sam…" Jaina began softly, drawing the younger Winchester's attention. "Do you think Dean will choose to stay?"

For a second, Sam found swallowing very difficult. He washed it down with a drink of water before stammering, "Uh… well… truthfully, any other town I would say not a chance in hell. Settling down, staying in one place, that's just not Dean."

Jaina looked downcast.

"But… I don't know, Eclipse River," Sam recalled the way Dean's things had found themselves all over the house so quickly. "This town is different. I really don't know what he'll decide." And that was the truth.

Jaina nodded grimly. "Must seem strange to you that I care so much about him staying."

Sam shrugged sheepishly.

"Skye may be gone, but it doesn't change the fact that Dean's her mate. He's part of her, in a way. I don't want to lose any more of her than I already have."

Sam frowned sympathetically, saved from having to come up with something to say by returning to his meal with an understanding nod.

"This is deplorable," Tanya announced with disgust as she closed the last cupboard. "There isn't a scrap of decent food in here for you boys."

Sam looked up. "That's fine, really. We're used to living on fast food."

Tanya looked aghast at him. "Fine anywhere else, maybe. I won't have it. I'm going to the grocery store and stocking you boys up."

"No, really, that's not –" Sam tried to protest.

Jaina touched his arm as Tanya brushed past, heading for the door. "Just let her go, Sam. You won't win."

Sam didn't have much chance to decline further, because Tanya was gone. When he looked back miserably at Jaina, she only smiled. "She likes you, you know. Tanya doesn't try to feed up just any Barely that comes through town."

"Well, good to finally have a few people here in my corner," Sam confessed.

Jaina's smile faltered (she knew she had been obviously wary of him at first), and she said, "You made a good showing of yourself at the barbeque… gave a lot of us a lot to think about."

Sam smiled then all but scarfed down the rest of his dinner. When he was done, he pushed back from the table. "I better go see how Dean's doing out there. He can lose track of time when he's under a hood. Care to come?"

"I'll be out in a moment," Jaina stood, reaching for Sam's dirty dishes, "let me take care of these first."

"Oh, come on! Don't bother, I'll do it later."

"Please, I…" Jaina swallowed. "Honestly, it's good to be in this house again and having it be lived in. Feels alive again. I'd like a moment."

Sam backed off. "Right… take all the time you like." Beating a hasty retreat, Sam went out the front door and rounded the house to the small attached carport where the brown and tan 1985 CJ7 Jeep was idling smoothly with Dean behind the wheel, one leg hanging out the door-less side.

"Check it out, Sammy," Dean said proudly when he caught sight of his brother, looking actually kind of silly to Sam (who was used to seeing Dean in hot rods, and a Jeep did not fit that mold).

Dean turned the Jeep off and swung out of the empty door space, keys in hand. "Tires need some air, and probably wouldn't hurt to change the oil, but I think she's in pretty good shape."

"That's great," Sam agreed, choosing not to point out they had little need or use for the Jeep.

Dean nodded thoughtfully to himself, looked down at the keys, then on impulse tossed them to Sam. Sam caught them and gave Dean a quizzical look.

Dean played it off. "Your own wheels, at least while we're here. Don't say I never gave you anything."

Sam gaped. "Are you sure?"

"Sure that I want to or sure that I can?"

Sam smirked. "Well… both."

"You heard Jaina, if it was Skye's, it's mine now. So, it's my car."

Sam really looked at the Jeep for the first time. He'd never had a car of his own before. Even at Stanford, he got by on public transport or Jess's Acura.

"It's a stick," Dean added, "you remember how to work a standard?"

Sam remembered well, learning to drive a standard transmission in an old Ford truck from Bobby's salvage yard when he was fourteen, driving in circles and figure eights around the back acreage. Dad had been on a hunt; he dropped his sons off with Bobby and Dean was the one who decreed it time that Sam learn to drive a stick shift. So many of Sam's life lessons came not at the hands of his father, but of his older brother.

"Yeah, I remember," Sam muttered, fingering the keys in his hand. Giving Sam his own car, as if they wouldn't be tethered together 24/7… it seemed like a step toward permanence. He wondered… could they make it work? A lot of hunters they knew had homes. Like Bobby. A base of operations. Sam had never liked the life of a nomad, but he'd been born into a family that didn't give him another option. A lycan town wasn't exactly the apple pie normal life he'd always craved, but if Dean could find himself setting up shop… well, Sam could make Eclipse River home. It would be nice to have one. And a home where they didn't have to hide what they did. Sam couldn't really imagine that kind of _unburdened_ existence.

"Dude," Dean threw a shop rag at Sam when he got lost in his thoughts, "it's a car, not a marriage proposal."

But it kind of was… 'I take you, Eclipse River, to be my semi-permanent home, for better or worse…'

"This could work, you know," Sam blurted out before he really thought about it.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Uh huh, sure. Care to clue me in, college boy?"

Sam looked up with a sigh. "Bobby has a home." Dean's expression became unreadable. Sam pressed on, "We could, too."

Dean scowled and looked away, scratching at the back of his head. "Sam…"

"Just… people care about you here."

"You know what? Everywhere I go, someone cares about me," Dean countered and looked pointedly at Sam.

Sam flinched. "Dean… I don't want to hunt forever."

"And after, you'd live here?" Dean asked pointedly.

Sam knew what Dean was doing. No small secret that the center of Dean's solar system was Sam, and everything else in his life orbited around him. Sam didn't always like it, but that was how Dean had been forged. Forged by their father through years of drilling 'watch out for Sammy' into his head until that _was_ Dean. Dean would always come back to Sam, like a stone thrown into the air would always return to earth. What Dean was asking was if Dean did consider making Eclipse River home, even after Sam gave up hunting, if there would still be a damn good reason for Dean to ever come back to it.

Sam realized something very clearly in that moment. He could _make_ Dean turn Eclipse River into home just by making it _his_ home. Sam could pitch a tent in Egypt, and Dean would let that be home if it was where he'd always find Sam.

In a salient way he never really understood before, Sam knew _he_ was Dean's home.

Dean was watching him intently, waiting for his answer.

He wasn't ready to say definitely either way after only two days in the town, so Sam shrugged. "You know, man… there's something nice about not having to lie about what I am. Everyone knows here that I'm a hunter… I don't have to pretend or make up stories. I could get used to that." Too damn fast, truthfully.

Dean studied Sam shrewdly, then gave a very tiny, thoughtful nod.

No telling what he might have said, if anything, but for the fact at that moment Jaina came around the side of the house. "Hi, Dean."

"Jaina," Dean returned, expression shifting to kind and genuinely pleased to see her.

"Were you able to get Skye's Jeep running again?"

"Yep. Didn't take much and she started right up."

"Good," Jaina nodded. "I hated it just sitting here, but I could never bring myself to loan it out to anyone in town."

Dean smiled. "Yeah… Skye was kind of picky about her wheels."

"Pot, kettle," Sam coughed dramatically into his hand, punctuating his taunt by throwing the shop rag earlier thrown at him back at Dean.

Jaina chuckled. "You should expect Tanya later with armloads of groceries."

Dean looked at Sam, questioning.

"She came by a while ago, brought me dinner, and had a stroke when she saw the empty pantry."

"I distinctly remember a can of baked beans in there," Dean argued.

Sam looked down at Jaina and shrugged, "We eat like royalty."

Jaina snorted.

"I'm going to go wait up front for her, at least not make her put up groceries alone," Sam said as he started walking backward toward the front of the house, ostentatiously giving Dean and Jaina time alone.

Dean watched his brother leave, then asked Jaina half-teasingly, "You think he's okay alone with Tanya?"

Jaina smiled faintly. "Tanya doesn't bullshit, Dean. If she says Sam's all right by her, she means it."

"Yeah," Dean muttered, then he frowned, "of course, she never actually said she _was_ all right with Sam."

Jaina laughed. "She did to me. Don't worry. That brother of yours has a real likeable quality to him. Even Jasper said he made a good impression."

"Sam tends to. I suppose _one_ of the Winchester men had to be charming." Dean hesitated uneasily, then said bluntly, "I gave the Jeep to Sam." When Jaina looked up at him, he amended, "not permanently or anything, but for as long as we're here, I figured he might like his own transportation."

"It's yours to give to him, temporarily or otherwise. Really, Dean, don't worry about stuff like that." Jaina looked disappointed. "So you've decided you won't stay?"

Dean flinched. "No, I haven't decided… sorry. I'm just so used to talking about leaving places."

"I can't imagine a life like that," Jaina mused sadly.

Dean shrugged. "I don't really know any other way."

"You could… here."

Dean frowned.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I'm really not trying to force you, just promise me you'll call me before you leave town this time, if you do decide to go?"

"Yeah, sure… let me put your number in my phone." Dean patted down his pockets, checking the usual places only to find it was nowhere to be found. "Must be in the house," he finally said.

Dean and Jaina went back into the house, where Dean found a pen and pad of paper and wrote down Jaina's phone number. They talked a while about this and that, only aware of the passage of time when Sam came in with an arm full of grocery bags and Tanya behind him with another.

They all pitched in putting away the supplies, and what struck the vagabond Winchesters most was how _domestic_ the whole thing was. It was the kind of openness and comfort usually only found when it was only Dean and Sam in the room. But the four of them chatted, and when ghosts or demons came into the conversation, they were just another topic to touch on. No one gasped in shock or thought the boys were buckets of crazy. Fact of that matter was, Sam thought it was _great_. It was so much of what he'd been looking for at Stanford and (outside of Jessica) had not found.

Eventually, the two women deigned to call it a night and bid the boys farewell. Dean saw them to the door then began searching the house.

"What are you looking for?" Sam asked.

"My phone," Dean answered.

"Oh," Sam dug into his pocket and fished out Dean's cell. "I took it this morning."

Dean looked up sharply. "Why?"

"Because you needed sleep," Sam replied and tossed the phone to Dean over the living room couch.

Dean caught it and scoffed, "Please, you're the one who needs his beauty sleep to look halfway decent."

"Whatever, jerk."

Dean smirked and opened his phone to add in Jaina's number. Out of habit, he checked his recent calls.

Sam watched Dean's face go rigid and his hands freeze. He looked up at Sam. "Dad called?"

"Yeah, this morning. Needed something out of his journal."

A knot of unease was tying itself slowly in Sam's stomach at the look of dread on Dean's face. "What else did you two talk about?" Dean's jaw clenched. "Did you tell him where we were?" The look in Dean's eyes made Sam's blood run cold.

Shit, meet fan. "Uh…"

"_Sam_?!"

"Yeah… I did."

The color drained from Dean's face immediately. A cold, hard fury sparked in his eyes. "What the _hell_, Sam? You told him the name of the _town_? You told him Eclipse River??"

"Yes…" Sam swallowed. "You… you never told Dad what town you visited?"

"_No_!"

Oh, hell. Not good. _So_ not good. "Damn… I'm sorry, Dean… I didn't know. I thought you already told him." Dean usually told their father all the gory details about his hunts. Sam had assumed Dean told their father most of the details of the hunt that took him to Eclipse River, merely leaving out the part where he became a lycanthrope.

"_Shit_," Dean hissed, fidgeting with sudden nervous, angry energy. Sam didn't want to compare him to a caged wild animal, but the analogy fit too well.

"Look… why would he come here?" Sam reasoned, but even to his own ears it sounded flimsy. "If you never told him about Eclipse River, he wouldn't have any reason to think –"

"Dad's going to figure it out pretty damn fast," Dean growled. "He knows the last hunt I did solo was in Oregon, and I flat-out refused to discuss it with him. He'll put it together, and you know Dad."

Yeah, he knew John. John Winchester on a hunt was an unstoppable force.

And Sam had likely just sicced him on Eclipse River. 'I'm an idiot,' Sam thought shamefully. He saw any hope they had of making this town home go up in smoke. Just like every other good thing in Sam's whole damn life. "Dean… I'm _so_ sorry."

Dean silenced him with a look and dialed John's number. He waited tensely. Sam could see tension radiating off Dean as he snarled into the phone, "Dad. Answer your goddamn phone. I know you talked to Sam. I don't know what you're thinking of doing, but _don't_. I mean it. Call me back as soon as you get this." With a scowl, Dean hung up the phone.

"What now?" Sam asked.

Dean paced anxiously. "We can't leave now. If Dad shows up, we have to stop him before he hurts anyone." Dean winced. "We need to tell Lucas."

Sam's eyes widened. "What… really?"

"Yes, _really_," Dean retorted. "Look, I don't like involving the pack leader in this, but people in town need to know a hunter could show up in town any day, and this one _is_ a danger to them." Dean started toward the door, grabbing his jacket off the hook as he passed. "Let's go."

To Be Continued…


	12. Chapter 12

The first lavender hues of dawn were just starting to stain the sky when it was clear everyone who intended to be at Tanya's was there. The group had taken over one corner of the diner, with Sam sitting in the booth in the very corner, slid over until his shoulder was against the window. Dean had practically herded Sam there and was staying close by as he walked the floor restlessly. Sam had the very real impression he'd been put in a corner so Dean could bodily shield him if necessary. There was tension in the air directed definitely at him, and Sam kept quiet. He was not Eclipse River's favorite person right now.

Though he wasn't talkative, he was observant. It was a larger gathering than Sam had expected given it was a meeting at the request of the Winchesters, plus the fact that wasn't even morning yet; word traveled very fast in Eclipse River. Those who hadn't shown up were possibly adopting a 'watch and see' policy where it concerned this 'test of loyalty' of the Winchester brothers. That made Sam feel very pressured to not screw up this time as he looked around at those in the diner.

Sitting at the tables and booths around Sam's sequester booth were Jaina and Ramon, Tanya, Jasper, Franklin (one of Jasper's friends from the barbeque), Selene, Josephine (Dean said she was a friend of Skye's), and Jeremy. Jeremy was the biggest surprise, and perhaps the reason Dean felt the compulsion to stick Sam in a defensible corner. Jeremy was perched on the back of a booth's bench seat, elbows on his knees, hands clasped, and eyes locked on Sam.

No one had mentioned being hungry, but Tanya seemed incapable of being part of a group without making herself responsible for the feeding of them. She whipped up the fastest mess of hash browns, eggs, and toast that everyone knew better than to refuse. While they ate, it gave time for any stragglers to arrive.

Sam tried to get the measure of those whom he did not know already (if for no other reason than to avoid Jeremy's searing stare). Josephine (or 'Josey' Sam had heard the others call her), was about Dean's age, with curly black hair loosely controlled in a sloppy ponytail with a body that looked soft, but not entirely unfit. She spent an awful lot of time watching Sam, and she wasn't apologetic about it when he caught her doing it. If anything, it felt cowing.

Franklin, or 'Frank', was a tall, bald man of an even temperament with Jasper. Sam could see why they got along. They seemed in deep, whispered conversation most of the time, and no prizes who was the topic of choice.

After wolfing down half his breakfast, Dean was up and moving, full of pent up energy that he wasn't used to reining in for a crowd.

Finally, Dean stopped his pacing, looked around, and began, "We can't wait any longer. I guess you all already know why we're here."

"Barely here fucked up and sent a hunter after us," Jeremy said snidely, still staring at Sam.

Sam didn't want to take Jeremy's side in anything, particularly after the way he had treated Dean at the barbeque, but on that count Sam could hardly argue.

Apparently, Dean didn't feel similarly restrained. Dean turned on Jeremy, angry. "Why the hell are you here, Jeremy?"

Jeremy was unmoved by Dean's ire, which was a rare sight. Dean's fury was not an easy thing to dismiss with any degree of cavalier. For a second, Jeremy continued to stare at Sam, as if Dean hadn't spoken at all.

Jeremy finally looked at Dean, but his gaze was no less venomous than it had been when it was locked on Sam. "Because I don't trust you to take care of this. Left in your hands, more lycans are going to die. I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen."

"No one is going to die," Sam spoke up. All eyes turned on him, and Sam lamented the new doubt in faces he'd finally seen turn kind toward him. Even Jaina looked worried that she had misjudged Sam Winchester. Sam sat up straighter. "Dean and I will make sure no one here gets hurt."

Jeremy scoffed and looked out the window.

"So..." Jasper said slowly, "we're here to form a hunting party, then? Track this hunter and kill him?"

Sam's chest clenched.

"_No_!" Dean barked, looking quickly at Jasper. "No, when we say no one is going to die, we mean _no one_."

Jasper and Franklin both frowned, as if they knew from a longer lifetime of experience that such a neat and pretty end was impossible.

"You're the hunter or you're the prey, Dean," Jeremy snarled, "which one are you? Which one would you have _us_ be?"

Sam grimaced, feeling like that was somehow a trick question. Knowing Jeremy's disdain for Dean, it probably was.

"No one has to die here," Dean insisted.

"What do you suggest, then?" Josephine asked flatly.

"I called you here to be eyes and ears," Dean answered. "We form patrols, watch the borders of town, and at the first sight of the hunter, you contact me or Sam, and we'll get this hunter to leave Eclipse River without anyone getting hurt."

Sam could see dubious expressions on everyone in the diner. Selene alone looked hesitant, but she had important information that no one else did.

"Dean," Sam said lowly, and when he had his brother's attention he said, "they need to know."

Dean's face darkened and his jaw clenched.

"Know what?" Jeremy demanded.

Dean didn't answer.

"Dean..." Jaina said softly, "know what?"

Dean tensed and his eyes sparked with inner fire, a combination Sam knew meant Dean Winchester was about to come out in fine form, but just short of being downright belligerent, he seemed to break. "_Fine_... the hunter on his way to Eclipse River is John Winchester. Our father."

A stunned silence stole the conversation in the diner for all of three seconds.

It was broken sharply. "Ha!" Jeremy laughed sardonically. "More Winchesters! Well, isn't _that_ just great?"

"Jeremy! Shut your damn mouth!" Ramon snapped suddenly. "Your nasty remarks aren't helping!"

Like a trap snapping shut, Jeremy slammed his mouth closed and looked in something bordering on wounded at Ramon.

Ramon looked up at Dean, his voice heavy and weary. "Go on, son."

Dean swallowed and nodded. "Sam and I can talk to our dad. Make him understand you are not dangerous monsters. That the pack is not a _hunt_."

Franklin piped in, "And if he _won't_ listen to you?"

"He _will_," Dean insisted, then frowned, "but if he _doesn't_... I promise you, nothing will happen to the lycans in this town."

There was a dark undertone to his voice that made Sam start and wonder, for just a second, what Dean meant by that. It sounded like he meant it with every predatory instinct in him, but Sam knew Dean would sooner die himself than see John lose his life. Sam looked closer at Dean, and for a moment he _didn't know_ what his brother was thinking. Dean was more foreign creature to him then than his wolf ever was.

Everyone looked around amongst themselves, quiet and thoughtful.

"Your father or not, you obviously consider him a danger to us. Why shouldn't we just kill him?" Franklin asked.

Dean frowned. "Because I'm _asking_ you not to. Besides… if you confront him, someone will get hurt. Our dad's _good_; if any of you try to take him on…" Dean smirked humorlessly, "believe me, our father will take his pound of flesh."

That didn't make anyone in the diner happy.

"Listen…" Sam began, sitting forward and resting his elbows on the table. "I know some of you," he glanced briefly at Jeremy, "have your doubts, but we mean what we say when we tell you we don't want to see anyone get hurt."

"Isn't that what you do as hunters?" Josephine asked bluntly. If there was acid in her tone, she hid well. She seemed to genuinely want to hear how the two Winchesters would respond. Sam took her for someone for whom the jury was still out when it came to the Winchesters.

"We hunt monsters, ugly things that exist just to hurt people," Dean answered lowly. "None of you are that. Not _even_ Jeremy."

Despite himself, Sam smiled a little at that.

Jeremy was conspicuously quiet, and Dean turned to level a look at him. "You could have killed me once. You didn't."

Sam's eyes widened.

Jeremy sat up straighter. "Don't think I haven't wished I'd done things differently that night in the clearing. Don't think I haven't wished it a thousand times."

"Jeremy…?" Jaina questioned, sounding careful. Obviously this was new to her, too.

Jeremy scowled and ducked from Jaina's attention. "Skye would have hated me if I killed him. I didn't do it for _her_ sake," Jeremy glared at Dean, "_not_ yours."

"For _Skye's sake_, I am not going to let anything happen to any of you," Dean insisted vehemently. "I'm here because of her; for _her_ sake, I won't let anyone attack the pack."

Jaina's head snapped up at that, hearing in it the same thing Sam obviously did. What everyone heard… Dean's words were 'the pack', but everyone in the diner heard the hint of 'my pack' in his vow. They all just stared, their intense scrutiny suddenly razor-sharp. Sam didn't realize he was holding his breath until he sucked in a breath. He could feel his heart pounding. There was a strange fire in Dean's eyes Sam couldn't recall ever seeing in Dean's expression before. It was territorial, but not of a family member or a car… it was territorial in defense of a home.

"I'm asking for your help," Dean said, his voice lower and sincere.

It was subtle at first, but Sam eventually noticed everyone mull over the request and then turn to look to Jaina and Ramon. Skye's parents. This lycan not born to the pack was theirs as much as anyone's, since he had been their daughter's mate. Sam understood they would make or break depending on what Skye's mother and father decided. Side with the Winchesters, trust in Skye's love and faith in Dean, or refuse to risk the pack on a lycan like Dean.

Ramon's eyes were on the table top before him, as if waiting for inspiration. Jaina touched his arm gently. Ramon looked up, met Dean's eyes, then sat up in his chair. "We'll help."

And just like that, they had everyone in the diner.

Dean nearly smiled in relief. "Thank you."

Jeremy grumbled and raked a hand through his hair. "Shit… well, just what are we looking for?"

Sam, seeing a chance to contribute, jumped in. "Our dad drives a black truck. Dad himself…" Sam looked toward Dean, thoughtful. "Looks more like Dean than me. Just imagine twenty years older, dark hair, brown eyes, usually unshaved, kind of gruff-looking…"

"Geez, Sam," Dean grumbled, "you make him sound _unwashed_."

Sam made a 'you said it, not me' gesture. He wouldn't bother reminding Dean of all the times when they were growing up when John staggered in drunk (usually self-medicating to dull the pain in any number of injuries).

It was Tanya who stood up first. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out there and keep a look out."

Dean just barely smiled. He handed out his and Sam's cell phone numbers to everyone, and armed with that everyone started to leave. Tanya hung by the door just outside, clearly waiting for Dean.

Sam slid out of the booth quickly and caught Selene by the elbow. When she turned, Sam dropped her arm and recoiled back, not sure how she was going to react. "Selene..."

"Yeah?" She didn't look so much dangerous as cautious.

"You heard Lucas. He wants someone pack with me and Dean, and somehow I don't think he meant I could partner up with Dean." Sam smiled thinly. "I want to help in the search... would you stick with me?"

Selene glanced briefly at Dean, who was pretending badly to not be eavesdropping, then she nodded. "Okay."

"Thanks. Let's head back to Dean's place; I've got the Jeep, we can use that."

Selene almost smiled for a second. "Patrol by car, huh? Guess that's one way to do it." There was the barest flick of gold in her irises.

Sam smirked. "Have pity on the plodding Barely, huh?"

Selene bit back a chuckle and started for the door. When Sam was moving past Dean, Dean reached out and grabbed Sam's arm. Sam stopped and looked at his brother. Dean looked fierce, determined, and worried. "Be careful, Sammy."

Sam mustered up a smile. "I will... you too."

It felt strange having to take care against their own father.

Dean nodded and dropped Sam's arm, letting him and Selene leave the diner.

It was fast approaching dawn, and Sam was setting off as part of a search party to hunt down John Winchester.

To Be Continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Sam stood by the side of the road next to the Jeep – _his_ Jeep – with his forearms resting on the warm hood. The woods around him were quiet, not a whisper of trouble, but Sam knew all the same that trouble _was_ coming. He looked around with sharp hunter's eyes, searching for any sign of the walking disaster to Eclipse River that was John Winchester.

Movement in the woods drew Sam's eyes quickly just in time to see a sleek wolf bounding out of the foliage and loping toward the Jeep.

Sam tensed as he looked down at the animal. She was lighter in color than Dean, coat almost dusted blonde in hue, and much finer-boned than his lycan brother. She also wore nothing around her neck.

"See anything?" Sam asked.

The wolf came to a stop in front of him, ears pricked in his direction, then the animal began to shift… change.

Into Selene, on all fours and naked.

Sam turned his back quickly.

"No sign of him," Selene answered.

Sam sighed, nodded, and without turning around reached to the pile of clothes on the hood and pushed them closer to Selene.

He heard her snort behind him. "You Barelys are too sensitive about nudity… anyone ever tell you that?"

"As a matter of fact," Sam replied, his back turned, "my lycan brother."

"Well, he's right."

"For the record, Dean wasn't that progressive about going without clothing _before_ he was one of you." Sam shrugged. "Maybe you'd have to be a Barely to get it. All bodies are _not_ created equal."

Sam could _hear_ that wolfish grin in Selene's voice. "Is that your own insecurity talking?"

Sam chuckled.

"Because from the look of you clothed," Selene continued, "I don't believe that it could look all that bad nude."

Sam was glad he was turned away from her, so she wouldn't see him blush. As it was, he cleared his throat. "While you were scouting, I tried my dad's phone again. No answer."

"Is that unusual for him?" Selene asked, walking around him and giving Sam a second of panic before he saw that she was clothed once again.

Sam looked down at her and frowned. "Actually, no."

Selene looked perplexed. Sam didn't blame her… what kind of father would not take his sons' calls?

Sam shook his head. "We aren't exactly the Bradys," he said in weak explanation.

Selene mulled that over a second, began to smirk, and answered, "Well, none of the Eclipse River families are, either."

"Trust me, the ability to transform into wolves aside, the Eclipse River families are _still_ more normal and adjusted than the Winchester family is." Fearing the conversation was going to continue to pick apart the fabric of the Winchester family – and find that it unraveled far too readily – Sam preempted Selene. "So," he said, "you think maybe head over to dirt road we passed a while back, see if we can take it south to check out the other end of town?"

"All right. There are some old logger roads that wind through the forest, too… they haven't been used by actual loggers for decades, but some of the locals keep the roads in use enough that they haven't been completely overrun by the forest. We should check out some of those, too."

"Sounds good."

Sam and Selene climbed back in the Jeep and Sam started them back toward town.

They drove a couple of minutes on the simple two-lane road winding its way through verdant forest in silence before either spoke. Then, without preamble, Selene said, "That was really self-sacrificing, what you said to Lucas." When Sam began to frown in confusion, she clarified, "when you begged him to banish you but let Dean stay."

The memory of was a sour pit in his stomach. "Oh."

"Did you mean it?"

"Of course I did," Sam answered.

There was a momentary pause before Selene asked, "You'd be okay with Dean staying in Eclipse River if you weren't welcome?"

Sam frowned, his grip on the steering wheel tightening slightly. "Yes, I would."

"Why?"

That was a sensitive question to answer, but Sam was not about to lose was ground he'd gained with Selene. He needed all the friends in Eclipse River he could get. And so far, honesty had been the way to reach Selene.

"Thing is…" Sam began haltingly, "for all intents and purposes, Dean raised me. Sure, we had our dad, but he was hit or miss when it came to being a parent. Dean was only a kid himself, but he made it his job to be a mother _and_ a father to me, on top of being a big brother." Sam smiled sadly at the thought, the unfortunate past that was the Winchester boys. "He gave up a lot to give me as much childhood as he could, even when that meant he didn't get to have one. It's his turn to get what _he_ wants. What _he_ needs. I'd do almost anything if I thought it would make him happy." Sam took in a breath, "And I think Eclipse River could."

Selene was silent for long enough that Sam started to feel uneasy about laying it all out there like that. It was a relief when Selene finally said, "He'd be family here, you know." When Sam briefly glanced her direction, she made a dismissive gesture, "Jeremy and the other hold-outs in town aside, eventually, he'd be just another member of the pack."

"Especially if he can prove his loyalty in this little crisis?" Sam asked pointedly.

"Especially." Selene smirked. "Your screw up might have been exactly what Dean needed to show Eclipse River his true colors."

But only if the showdown with John went well, and Sam's personal track record with their father would seem to suggest it wouldn't. John wasn't one for making exceptions; he was uneasy enough having a lycan son. Sam still felt anger when he thought of busting into that hotel room to see Dean strapped to the bed, writhing in agony as John tried to 'exorcise' the wolf. Because he couldn't abide his sons being different. Disobedient. Whether it was grasping for normal or the very opposite of, it seemed John's sons could not please him. Sam was shunned for wanting a life away from the hunt; Dean was spurned for practically being one.

Before Sam had to say anything in response, Selene laid a hand on his forearm. "Stop for second."

Sam did, silencing the engine and sitting perfectly still. They had done this periodically on their search for John Winchester and Sam just obeyed without question.

Motionless in the passenger's seat, Selene strained first to hear, head slowly turning on direction, then the other. Then she tilted her chin upward and sniffed at the air. Then she looked, peering intently into the woods, her intensity seeming to travel through her body and practically passing off an electric energy into Sam's arm through the hand she still had resting against it.

Then, just as abruptly, Selene relaxed and dropped her hand.

Sam had never said anything before, but this time (because it would get them off the topic of the Winchester family), he said, "I don't hear or smell anything."

Selene looked sidelong at him, one corner of her mouth quirking up wryly. "No, you wouldn't."

Sam started the Jeep again. "You mean your senses are better than human senses?"

"Actually, when we're in human form, our sense range is the same. But we can utilize aspects of the wolf – like heightened sense of hearing and smell – without changing."

"Dean never said anything about being able to do that," Sam mused, certain it would have been an advantage on the hunt he would have brought up before.

"Probably because he can't."

Sam looked questioningly at her.

"Dean wasn't born as one of us, he _became_ one of us. And not too long ago at that." Selene brought up a hand and brushed away a windblown strand of blonde hair from her face. "There are a lot of things natural lycans can do that Dean may never be able to do, even if he applies himself."

"Like having spidy-senses?"

Selene smiled. "Like that."

"What else?"

Selene thought about that for a moment. "Well, I know some lycans that can, very briefly, take human form on the night of the first full moon. Skye could."

"Oh… can you?"

Selene shook her head. "I never cared to devote the time to trying. Fighting for human form seemed like a terrible waste of the night of the run."

"I've seen Dean fight the change on that first night… it wasn't pretty."

A taut look overtook Selene's face. "Imagine every bone in your body trying to break while you spike the highest fever you've ever had in your life… think the kind of high temperatures that would normally induce seizures." Selene shivered, as if horrified at the very thought. "I only ever fought it once to see what it was like. Never again."

Sam didn't have to imagine… he'd seen it. Dean's body knotted in agony, his body heat a palpable aura around him, his voice so torn and strained. '_Don't be afraid, Sam_.'

Too much pain in their lives, his and Dean's.

If Sam had anything to say about it, some of Dean's pain would stop here… in Eclipse River.

* * *

Jeremy Barker stood in the middle of the glory of the forest in a blasphemous shape and despised every second of it. Of course it was all because of the Winchesters… every last one of them a curse upon the town. It just killed Jeremy that the others did not see that. It was an insult to Skye's memory.

Even though they had been the same age, Skye had always seemed like a big sister to him and Trey. Trey was the risk-taker, the one a little too adventurous for any of their goods and leading them to know farther limits of the pack territory than anyone else. Jeremy had just been interested in having fun, and Trey was always pushing the limits; no time spent with Trey was dull. Skye was the responsible one… their caretaker. If he was honest with himself, Jeremy always had a bit of a crush on her, but Skye never saw anything more than a brother in him. For a while, Jeremy thought Skye might think of Trey as something more, but Trey never showed the least bit of interest in Skye as more than a friend, and she never once gave the indication that that bothered her.

They were great together, the three of them. Wild and free.

Until that last year before Trey left. His thirst for going one step farther, going just past where the pack allowed, got out of hand. He had been growing restless and hostile for years, and it finally came to a head when Trey enlisted without discussing it with anyone.

Jeremy remembered the last fight between Skye and Trey. It had been vicious. Trey would not be told what he could and could not do. Skye was not about to back down from trying to keep Trey from endangering his life. After their bitter screaming match, when Trey turned his back and walked away from the both of them, Jeremy had looked at Skye. She was practically shaking with fury and fear… not for herself, but for Trey. Jeremy had offered some simpering words of comfort that not even he believed, and Skye had looked at him. Jeremy understood a painful truth that day, at that look. Skye had never looked at him the same way she looked at Trey. As if she was equal to Trey but somehow _more_ than Jeremy. And Jeremy hated that it was kind of true… he never stood up to Trey like she did; never challenged him or questioned him. Jeremy was the go-along, in some awkward sense the pup while they were the wolves.

Jeremy paused to listen for Jasper, but the old man was still nowhere to be seen or heard. He scowled and returned to his unpleasant ruminations.

One of the things Jeremy hated the most about Dean Winchester was the way Skye had looked at him. The look of affection aside, she had looked at him like she had looked at Trey. Like she was looking upon an equal, someone who was _enough_ for her. More than Jeremy could ever be.

It wasn't fair… he was a _human_. And a hunter. And even when he became a lycan, Skye died because of him. He believed Dean loved her – who _wouldn't_ love Skye? – but that didn't undo her death. A huge part of Jeremy felt like it was torn out when Trey and Skye were gone, and injured animals lashed out. Jeremy just happened to have a deserving target. If Dean had never come to town, Skye would still be alive… and _maybe_ she could have gotten through to Trey. Saved him. If anyone in the world could have, it would have been Skye. Things could have been like they were before, Skye, Trey, and him finding adventure in their untamed backyard. Safe. Together.

A sound in the forest tore Jeremy from his thoughts and he turned to see Jasper in his wolf form, the animal just as grayed and silver as the man, trotting toward him.

When the elder animal was close, Jeremy sneered. "This is stupid, this wandering through the woods in _these_ forms."

Jasper retook his human form and reached down to his pile of clothes on the forest floor. "Unless you have a wolf fanny pack for your cell phone that I don't know about," Jasper replied tersely, "this is the only way we can do it."

"We wouldn't have to worry about our damn phones at all if we took care of this our way," Jeremy growled while Jasper put his clothes back on. "But _no_, we have to do it the way _Dean Winchester_ wants it."

Jasper zipped up his pants and sighed. "You should give the boy a chance."

"Why should I? The last time he was in town, Trey and Skye died."

Jasper frowned. "It's not fair for you to blame Dean for Trey. You know as well as I do there wasn't much hope Trey could be saved."

Jeremy stiffened. "You don't know that. Skye could have helped him."

Even before Jeremy finished talking, Jasper was shaking his head. "Boy was beyond help. Don't forget it wasn't Dean who ended up shooting Trey."

That comment made Jeremy's heart hammer and his jaw clench.

"As for blaming him for getting Skye killed…" Jasper paused to wince, as if physically pained. "Dean would have died in her place if he could have. If you can't see that just by looking at him, then you're a fool. Skye would want you to give him a chance… she'd want you to get to know him."

"I can't do that," Jeremy answered. He remembered vividly standing over Skye's grave at the funeral while Dean stood among them, an unnatural presuming to share their grief, as if he could hurt as much as they when he had only known her a short time, whereas Jeremy had known Skye all his life. "I _can't_," Jeremy insisted.

Jasper looked more sad about that than angry, then he sagged. "If you can't look past your own grudges and do what Skye would have wanted, there's no hope for me talking some civility into you." The old man looked weary. "Go on." He gestured toward the trees to Jeremy's right.

Jeremy grumbled and began to strip. Given the fact they were shackled to their cell phones, they were working their way through scouting like an inchworm. One would stay behind with the clothes (and the phones) while the other changed and went off in one direction. After a while searching, the scouting wolf would return, and the other would turn and scout in the opposite direction. When they met up, they would both move on a distance before stopping and repeating the whole process again.

It was maddeningly slow and inefficient, but heaven forbid Jeremy Barker defy the will of Dean fucking Winchester.

Jeremy shifted into his wolf and took a moment to feel and sense the woods suddenly alive around him. In human form, the forest was like a cardboard cutout, flat and lifeless. In wolf form, it was alive with sights, sounds, smells, and energy that the human body could not experience.

After reveling in it for a second, Jeremy turned to his right and started loping.

He kept all his senses on alert for any sign of an unfamiliar human. He wended his way between trees, over animal trails, through brush, always smelling and listening with his keen senses.

They'd been searching since morning, and so far nothing. This ridiculous search could go on for days… the Winchester brothers didn't even know where their father was.

How could Lucas even consider giving Dean and Sam this kind of deference, to let them dictate the way they would search? This was a matter of pack safety, and giving the Winchesters the reins was asking for more lycans to die. They knew the Winchester dad was as hunter… what else would one expect of a meeting between hunters and lycans but death?

Jeremy slammed to a stop when a scent not woodland crashed into him.

He stopped and stood stock-still, nose to the wind, inhaling deeply.

The smell of car exhaust, sun-warmed metal, and the stink of human filled his lungs.

Jeremy, on high alert, followed the smell.

From a distance, peeking between tree trunks, Jeremy saw a man standing beside a black truck parked on one of the old logging roads. He was studying a map laid flat on the hood. A sawed-off rifle sat on the hood beside the map. There was a similarity in scent between the man and the Winchesters… the stench of human family members.

Jeremy lowered his head and began to growl.

But first things first.

Jeremy whirled around and raced back toward where he'd left Jasper. When he started to get close, he slowed his stride to an easy lope. When he came back upon Jasper, the old man looked toward him eagerly.

Jeremy turned his form and affected an air of annoyed boredom. "Squat."

Jasper sighed. "All right… get dressed and let's keep heading east."

Jeremy nodded curtly and got back into his clothes. Then he gave a deliberate pat of his front pockets. "Hold on… my cell phone's gone."

"Huh?"

Faking a very put-upon sigh, Jeremy groaned, "I must have dropped it at our last stop. I'll just run back and check."

"Don't bother, I have mine," Jasper said.

Jeremy cast him a withering look. "I thought the whole reason we were doing it this way was to _have_ our cell phones. Just wait here, I won't be long."

Jeremy took off at full speed (pathetic as it was in human form) back the way they had come. He stayed gone just long enough, then headed back toward Jasper. When he caught back up to the older man, he called out nastily, "Well, this is just _fantastic_."

"What?"

Jeremy pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up as evidence. "Found it, and I had a message from Josephine."

"Did they find him?" Jasper asked immediately.

"No, but they want to double up on the area north of the meadow. She asked if you could meet her and Jaina by the creek while I'm supposed to meet Tanya and _Dean_ by the town welcome sign."

Jasper frowned. "I didn't get a call about that…"

"If any of this were up to me, I'd just as soon _not_. You think I _want_ to team up with Dean?" Jeremy countered.

Jasper looked weary of Jeremy's persistent animosity, which was much preferred to suspicion. "Just don't get so caught up in hating him and letting him know it that you foul the search, Jeremy." With that, Jasper started north. Jeremy turned and headed back west. He walked only as long as Jasper was in sight. When the old man was gone, Jeremy stopped. He turned and listened with wolf-borne acuity for any sign Jasper was coming back.

When Jeremy was certain the old man was leaving, Jeremy practically tore off his clothes in his eagerness to reclaim his wolf form.

When he was standing over his discarded clothes with four paws braced apart, he took off toward the south, back to the place where he had spotted John Winchester.

Jeremy was going to take care of this threat to the pack _his_ way. _That_ is what Skye, their constant protector, would have wanted from him. That he keep the pack safe at all costs.

He was not about to let another Winchester kill another lycan.

* * *

To Be Continued…


	14. Chapter 14

John Winchester stared intently at the map he had spread flat on the hood of his truck. He had stopped a few miles out from Eclipse River, halting what had been a headlong rush to Oregon in order to plan his next move.

Sam, no doubt unknowingly, had given John the missing piece of a puzzle that had been eluding him for years. John stored details away like odds and ends in a junk drawer. Some things were discarded after so long without use, but others stuck no matter what. Oregon stuck for John.

He remembered his son meeting up with him in Utah after months hunting on his own. It was after The Stanford Fight. John hadn't liked Dean going solo, but he understood that it was something Dean needed to do. Sam's leaving hurt John, but it absolutely crushed Dean. Dean never said it, but John knew how close his boys were.

It was a downright listless Dean that turned up on John's motel room doorstep after months on his own.

John never got any explanation out of Dean for his behavior. The most Dean would confess was that he'd just come from Oregon. Beyond that, Dean wouldn't say what had happened.

Since then, John was able to piece together the story of what happened from the evidence.

Dean had been turned in Oregon. A lycanthrope in the Pacific Northwest had condemned Dean to life as a _thing_. And Dean, ashamed and embarrassed, could not bring himself to tell his father what he had become.

After John found out what Dean was, after he tried to tear out the wolf in his boy only to fail and then be told by _Dean_ that he didn't want it gone, John came to some conclusions of his own.

At some point in the years Dean was living with the curse of lycanthropy, he went from living with it to owning it. Dean was adaptable as hell like that; John was certain that was how Dean had taken to the life of hunting like he did. Sam had been the normal kid with all his protests against the nomadic, warrior lifestyle – any normal boy _would_ rail against that life. Dean refused to see the hardship right in front of him… instead he embraced it, and for it was happier growing up than Sam ever was. Dean had done the same thing with the wolf inside him… when he couldn't change it, he refused to see it as a burden. It was an admirable trait and had spared John the heartache and headache of another son like Sam, but in this case it was misplaced. But Dean, the poster-child for rolling with the punches, couldn't see that anymore.

It was Dean's defense mechanism, and after a while to mull that over John accepted it. It was screwy, but it did make its own kind of sense.

Sam, on the other hand, was infuriating. Instead of trying to help his brother, Sam was encouraging Dean to nurse his misguided new idea of 'right'. The wolf taking over Dean was _not_ right, but Sam was going along with Dean's delusional coping mechanism. When he should have been doing his damnedest to find a way to get the beast out of his brother, he was defending Dean's choice to be a creature instead, as if it was one of those controversial fad topics that Sam liked to argue so much. Sam ought to know better.

But then, John had only himself to blame. He raised his boys to be too close, too united against the world… which, at times, included him. With Dean's notion and Sam's support, John came up against a wall of resistance when he showed up to help.

It was hard for John to walk away, to leave Dean like _that_, but he had to trust that his oldest would come around and see reason. He believed in Dean; the boy would make the right decision in the end. It might just take some time.

So John Winchester let the whole matter sit cold and undigested in his stomach and was effectively bound from doing anything.

Until Sam slipped the name of Eclipse River. Then the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Given Dean's condition when he showed up in Utah, John presumed his son didn't get the creature he'd been after in Oregon. The lycanthrope that changed him got away. Before, for lack of enough information to track down and get revenge on the thing that damned his boy, John had to live with that. Now, with Eclipse River in his sights, he could finally do something.

Dean might still need time to understand what was the best thing for him, but John was not going to wait for that in order to dole out some payback. If the lycan that turned Dean was still around Eclipse River, John was going to find it and make it suffer.

John knew his boys were trying to reach him, but he didn't answer their calls. Didn't even listen to their messages. He knew they wouldn't be ready to understand yet what he was doing. Dean was still lost in the warped reality created by his own coping mechanism, and Sam was pandering to it with all the gusto Sam threw into everything he did. In time, they'd realize he did it for them, but John didn't have the time to wait around for them to figure that out.

He had a job to do and his sons to protect.

John scowled down at the map. He was close to Eclipse River, but he had to be smart about how he went in. Something he shared in common with his youngest son was attention to detail and a knack for research. Being prepared before going into combat counted for half the battle – something Sam had always understood better than impetuous Dean.

Eclipse River was nestled smack-dab in the middle of the forest. From what he could tell, it was small, too. That would make moving around unnoticed difficult. Small towns noticed strangers. He could always avoid the town all together and stick to the woods, but if there _was_ a monster out there, he would be in its territory where it had the home advantage. And what if there was more than one? The literature was damnably scarce on the differences between werewolves and lycanthropes… John just wasn't sure how much of werewolf lore he could apply to lycanthropes.

What he wasn't going to do was rush in half-cocked and unprepared. He wasn't a damn good hunter by being careless.

It wasn't a sound so much as a sense of being watched that made John look up and peer into the woods. It looked quiet, idyllic even…

Still, John deftly reached over and picked up his rifle resting on the hood beside the map. He stood with weapon in hand, staring hard into the woods. He froze in place, listening with every sense he had.

A rustling in the brush brought John to immediate attention. A shadow detached from the underbrush and moved toward him.

John brought up his weapon.

A wolf stepped purposefully out of the forest, like a ghost appearing from nothingness, and stopped just beyond the bush to stare at him.

John's entire body told him to take aim and fire, but experience and collected calm stilled his hands. Instead, he returned the animal's stare. It was not merely an animal, John knew that just from the look about it. There was far too much cognizance in those amber eyes.

A lycan.

John's finger slipped inside the trigger guard.

He eased himself around the front of the truck to give him an unimpeded shot at the creature. The wolf's leveled stare ratcheted up in intensity. It lifted its head slightly, ears pricked and locked on John.

He had a clean shot, but a seed of doubt made him refrain from taking it… a fear he could not ignore.

"Dean?" John called out tentatively.

The wolf visibly reacted to the name but came no closer.

John swallowed. He had to be sure… if that was his son, he could _not_ shoot.

"Son… is that you?"

The wolf just stared back at him.

John felt the stare creep right up his spine. It sang of wrong. All of this was wrong. But if that was Dean… he'd never forgive himself.

"Damnit, Dean, if that's you, you need to let me know right now."

The wolf lowered its head, eyes locked, and took a step closer to John.

John held his ground, rifle held tightly in his hands but uncertainty preventing him from shooting. "That's an _order_, Dean. Tell me if it's you." It couldn't be… Dean would have proven himself by now.

In the distance came the sound of a car engine closing on his position.

Much closer was the sound of the wolf beginning to growl.

Dean wouldn't growl at his own father. John took that for an answer. He lifted the rifle and took aim.

The wolf bared its teeth, snarling.

"Dad!"

John shifted his aim and looked quickly toward the sound of his son's voice. Sam's.

Running toward him from the direction of a parked Jeep (where a blonde woman in the vehicle talking on her cell phone) was Sam.

"Dad, stop!" Sam yelled frantically.

Oh _god_…

"Is that your brother?" John demanded, gesturing toward the wolf with a tick of his head. He felt sick at the thought maybe he was wrong, maybe it _was_ Dean, and he'd been about to shoot him. The wolf, upon seeing the new arrivals, had pinned back his ears and resorted to furious glaring.

Sam staggered to a stop next to his father, his expression immediately flickering to confusion, disgust, and surprise all at once. "That? No, that's not Dean." As if John should be ashamed for not being able to tell on sight.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?"

"You're making a huge mistake!"

"I'm doing what you _should_ be doing. Didn't I teach you anything? These monsters turn your brother into a _thing_ and you ask me what _I'm_ doing? They hurt our family and they will pay for that! I thought that was something you understood."

"_You_ don't understand, Dad."

"Seems there's a hell of a lot I don't understand these days, isn't there? Where is your brother?"

"Looking for _you_. We all are."

"Who is _we_?" John looked past Sam's shoulder toward the woman next to the Jeep. She was watching them closely.

Sam glanced toward the wolf, including it as he answered, "Some of the townspeople and us."

"Jesus, Sam… how far gone are you two? You're working with these things?"

The wolf began to growl again. John lifted his gun.

Sam hurried forward and stepped between his father and the animal.

"Get out of the damn way, Sam!"

"No! You can't do this to Dean!"

Now John was getting really frustrated. "You said that _wasn't_ Dean!"

Sam looked exhausted. "Just put down the gun and let me explain."

Before John could refuse or comply, the choice was taken from him. The next few seconds passed in a blur of motion. The wolf, tired of waiting, bolted forward. For a second, it looked like it would attack Sam while his back was turned, but instead it clipped Sam's knees, took him down in a surprised fall. The animal rushed past toward John.

John brought up his gun to fire. His finger closed around the trigger.

Another wolf exploded from the bushes at full tilt. The first wolf, taken by surprise, flinched just enough. The shot from John's rifle buried into the dirt, missing the wolf entirely.

Then the second wolf was on John, its teeth closing around the hunter's forearm and jerking him off balance. John staggered and fought to keep hold of his rifle.

The wolf let go.

John reclaimed his grip on the weapon, brought it to bear in order to fire…

"_STOP_!" Sam screamed.

John hesitated just shy of firing on the new wolf attacker.

"Dad, that's _DEAN_!"

John froze stone cold. He looked toward Sam, who was jumping back to his feet, then at the wolf that had attacked him. It looked just like the other animal… how could Sam know that one was his brother?

Sam rushed to the second wolf's side and dropped to one knee beside him. Without fear or hesitation, Sam's hand flew to the wolf's throat. "See?" Sam demanded, and John saw that he was holding up the amulet Dean always wore. It was looped around the wolf's throat.

John lowered the rifle muzzle toward the ground. "What the hell is going on around here?" John bellowed. "My sons working with creatures they ought to be hunting? The same monsters that did this to Dean?"

Sam dropped the amulet back into its nest of fur and slowly stood. "These people are not monsters, Dad."

"They're not _people_, Sam!"

That was when John noticed it. They were no longer alone. Figures in the forest surrounded them. Wolves. There had to be at least half a dozen of them, watching intently from the tree line.

John looked between Sam and the wolf at his side that he'd identified as Dean. He knew that he had lost his opportunity. If he started shooting now, he would be taken before he got them all. Worse, these beasts might turn on his boys. They had not killed his sons yet, for whatever reasons, but he didn't think for a second those reasons would keep his sons alive now if it became a firefight. He had to regroup and think of a different plan.

Though it went against every instinct he had, John held up his hands and slowly set his rifle on the ground. The wolves stirred restlessly but did not come closer. The first wolf that had lunged at him was backing away slowly, joining the others in the trees.

The wolf beside Sam seemed to rally itself…

Then it transformed. It became Dean, bare but for the necklace lying against his sternum. Slowly, his son rose from his crouch and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sam. Both of them were watching their father. John gaped for a moment, still not comfortable watching his son flip back and forth between man and animal. When he got past that, he said angrily, "You attacked me."

Dean barely smirked, but it was brittle and humorless. "I didn't even break the skin. I had to stop you. You are not hurting these people."

"They're not _people_!" John countered hotly. "They're monsters!"

"Then I'm a monster, too."

John drew in a sharp breath. "No… no, you're not. You're sick."

Never in his life had John seen that shuttered look in his oldest son's face. "I've never felt better in my life. This isn't a disease. I'm exactly what I want to be."

John glanced around at the wolves, his hairs on the back of his neck rising. They were closing in. The wolves were emerging slowly from the forest now that John no longer had a weapon in hand. They were walking closer and closer to his sons.

John fought the urge to dive down for his rifle and blast them all clear of his boys. It was with great effort that he focused on Dean. "One of these creatures cursed you, and it deserves to pay for that with its _life_."

The stone-like quality in Dean's face vanished, and suddenly it was a look of fury Dean directed at John… white hot and serrated anger like nothing John had ever seen in Dean. "Her name was Skye, and I _loved_ her!"

That struck John silent. Presently, he was looking at his sons standing together, one fully clothed and tall as a bear, the other nude and shameless about it, and surrounding them on all sides, wolves. The animals were clustered around the boys, each of them watching John. He wasn't sure when they'd formed a bunch around their legs or how he'd not realized it happening, but there they were. Dean and Sam center of their own small pack of wolf sentries.

John suddenly wasn't sure if the creatures were closing in for a group attack or _protecting_ his boys.

"Who?" John asked dumbly, feeling like his control and understanding of the situation was gone while he scrambled for purchase.

Dean went from furious to weary. "The one who changed me… her name was Skye, and I loved her. I was _in_ love with her." Dean looked like he might be sick for a second. "She saved me, Dad. She loved me. The lycans in Eclipse River… they're her family. I won't let you hurt the pack… you'll have to go through me first."

"And me," Sam added resolutely.

John had no idea what to think anymore. When he'd been certain it was a wicked monster that had done this to Dean, it had been easy to want to track it down and kill it. But _this_… John didn't know anymore.

He did know his sons meant what they said about putting themselves between the lycans and John's quest for vengeance.

"Come back to the house with us, and I'll try to explain," Dean asked in a much calmer, plaintive voice.

John eyed the wolves warily. "What about them?"

Dean smirked. "They won't attack unless you do."

"How can you be so sure?" John challenged.

"Because I'm one of them."

That was the moment John realized that Dean _was_. Until that instant, John had seen Dean as afflicted with an illness and the lycanthropes as little better than vile beasts. Watching Dean stand comfortably within a cluster of wolves, the wolves just as comfortable around him, John understood that he had been wrong to see his son as different from them.

Which meant he had two choices… change the way he saw lycans or change the way he saw his son.

With a relenting sigh, John grumbled, "This better be good, Dean."

Dean almost smiled.

To Be Continued…


	15. Chapter 15

Sam could tell that John felt like he was smack dab in the middle of enemy territory. Sam was in Dean's living room with their father while Dean was in the kitchen with Lucas (among others). Several of the pack elders had been waiting for them at the house, so Dean had not been able to sit John down and explain things to him. The matter of the threat to the pack posed by John had to be addressed first. So Dean left Sam with their father in the living room while Dean and the members of the pack retired to the kitchen.

Sam sat awkwardly on the arm of the sofa and watched John. He didn't really know what to say. For that matter, John didn't really look like he knew what to say, either. He was slowly pacing the living room, slow enough that to the casual observer it might not even look like pacing. Sam knew better.

John's attention was almost entirely on the lycans in the kitchen with Dean. Though it might be misplaced and misguided at times, Sam could never deny that John Winchester was protective of his boys.

"Maybe we should go in there," John finally said.

"I think the best thing for everyone would be for you to stay here," Sam countered calmly. "Let Dean handle this."

John scowled and stopped his pacing to look around the living room. "Whose house is this?"

"Dean's."

That got a reaction out of John. He looked quickly at Sam, eyes demanding an explanation.

With a sigh, Sam explained gently (as if gently would make it easier on John), "Dean and Skye were mates… to the pack, that's the same thing as husband and wife. So whatever belonged to her belongs to Dean, too. This was her house." Sam shrugged. "Which makes it Dean's house."

John looked long and hard at Sam, then he turned and surveyed the place again… perhaps this time with a new eye.

"Did you know her? This Skye?"

Sam shook his head. "I wish I had, but… she died before I got a chance to meet her."

"Sammy," Dean's voice called from the kitchen.

Sam stood up. "Yeah?"

Dean came into the hallway halfway and said, "I'm going to step out for a sec with Lucas and his bunch… be right back." Unspoken was the order 'watch out for Dad'.

"Okay."

Dean turned and the group, Dean included, walked out the back door.

That set John Winchester's papa bear circuits to sparking. "We just going to let him be alone with them?"

"Yes. Dad… you have to stop seeing them as the enemy."

"I want to know why in the hell you did. Didn't I teach you better?"

Sam frowned. "Dean is proof that lycanthropes aren't monsters. And when I got here, the rest of the town proved Dean wasn't a fluke." Sam shook his head. "If you could just stop seeing these people as _creatures_ and talk to them, just take a few minutes to get to know them, you'd see what I mean."

Obviously irritated, John started down the hall and Sam, frustrated, did not follow. Not that he was above getting into a fight with their father, but it would be really hard to be alone in the house with John if they had a blowout, and Sam was _adamant_ about making sure John Winchester didn't turn himself loose on Eclipse River.

When John's footfalls stopped abruptly, Sam turned. John was in the hall, staring at the pictures hung there. Specifically, at the pictures of Dean and Skye.

Feeling a strange twinge of sadness, Sam approached his father and joined him in the hallway.

John was intent on one of the photographs, his jaw jumping and his shoulders tense. Sam looked at the same picture as John… the one of Skye braced over Dean on his back while Dean gazed up at her, positively smitten.

"I've never seen him look so happy with a woman," John admitted grudgingly.

Sam let slip a tiny smile. "Yeah… he really loved her, Dad."

John shook his head, totally baffled. "But this is _Dean_… he's a _hunter_." Suggesting that _Sam_ might do something like this, but Dean should have been impervious to such folly.

"And he loved her anyway," Sam returned. "Don't you think that says a hell of a lot about these people?"

John turned a thoughtful look at Sam. Hoping he had his father's attention finally, Sam pressed, "Skye turned him because it was the only way to save his life. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have Dean like he is than for Dean to have died that day." John blanched slightly. Sam, on a roll, continued, "And being the wolf makes him_ so_ happy. Dean might not have been born to this, but he _should_ have been. It fits him that well."

John sighed, though whether it was because he was thoroughly fed up with his sons or because his resolve was crumbling, Sam couldn't say.

"Just… when Dean comes back in here, really _listen_ to him. Don't take my word for how perfectly this suits Dean, see it for yourself. Dean deserves at least that much from you."

John opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the back door opened and Dean came through alone.

Sam perked up. "Well?"

Dean looked harried but determined. "Lucas is calling off the dogs, so to speak… Dad's safe for now, but he's definitely on probation."

"You mean I'm being watched twenty-four seven while I'm here," John groused.

"Yep," Dean answered. "By some other pack members _and_ by me."

John bristled. "You'd do that? Turn on your own family?"

Suddenly, Dean looked tired. "I hope you won't ask me to pick between you and them, Dad." Dean looked past John toward Sam. "What did I miss?"

Sam ticked his head toward the wall. "I was telling Dad about Skye."

"Oh…" Dean looked sucker-punched. He took a steeling breath, looked directly at John, and said, "Look, Dad… you don't like lycans, don't get us, don't trust us, I understand that… but you need to understand that _I. Loved. Skye_. If we have to duke it out about everything else, fine, but…" Dean looked somehow younger and older in the same instant, "leave her out of it. I couldn't stand you making her _less_. The way you have people leave Mom alone, leave Skye alone."

That clearly surprised John. Sam just felt heartsick for his big brother.

"Ahem," John cleared his throat, obviously thrown off-guard, "Sam said she saved your life."

Dean nodded. "She killed one of her own kind to do it. That was the day she turned me… and I'm glad she did it."

John grasped for something to say next, failed, then let out a huge sigh. "Christ, Dean… I don't know what to say. What do you expect me to do with this?"

"Honestly, everything you have done so far. That's _you_. But," Dean cast a look at Sam that held a hint of mirth, "try to be more like Sam about this, okay?"

"Meaning…?"

Sam jumped in. "Meaning that as long as Dean isn't a danger to people – which he _isn't_ – his happiness is more important to me than making sure Dean fits into a certain mold."

John headed back toward the living room and plopped down on the couch, running his hands roughly through his hair. His sons followed him and John said gruffly, "I just can't believe you like being like this."

"I know you can't… but I do, Dad. Being the wolf is _amazing_. I would never want to give that up. Even when you were trying to rip it out of me, I didn't want it gone."

That something so unnatural could make Dean so content was clearly hard for John to fathom.

"You've never seen him after a run," Sam added. "Shit, Dad, Dean gets downright _giddy_."

"I do not," Dean said.

Sam grinned. "You do too."

"Not."

"Too."

Despite himself, John chuckled.

In the following silence, Dean and Sam moved around to the middle of the room. Sam sat down in the armchair while Dean fidgeted as he stood at the end of the coffee table.

John looked up at Dean quietly a moment, then said, "So what's the deal with the others?"

"You mean the pack?"

John nodded faintly.

"They're just looking out for their own survival."

"And this little town arrest they've got me under… what is the point of that? If they were really looking out for their own survival, they would have killed me," John pointed out in his pointed, gruff manner.

Dean just barely flinched. "They considered it, but I convinced them to let me try and stop you without it coming to that."

"Why?"

"How well Sam and I can stop you from going on a killing spree will decide if I can stay in Eclipse River."

John's eyes widened. "Is that what you want? To _live_ here?"

"Yeah… maybe. I know I want the choice. Since Lawrence, this is the first place that has ever felt like home. Plus, I'm with my own kind here."

John looked over at Sam. "And what about you?"

"I doubt I'd be welcome in Eclipse River after this, but if Dean thinks of this as home, then I'm going to fight for his right to stay."

"You're in, Sammy," Dean said softly.

"What?"

"Part of what I was talking with Lucas about… as long as Dad doesn't do anything to upset the pack, you're welcome here just like me." One corner of Dean's mouth turned upward. "I wouldn't take no for an answer."

Sam was starting to smile, feeling truly relieved for the first time since this whole mess began, when John interjected, "Wait a minute… Sam, _you_ want to live here?"

"Possibly. Like Dean said… I'd like to have the option available to me."

"What could you possibly want here? You're not even one of them!"

"No… but if Dean decides to live here, I'd like to be able to visit. And everyone here knows I'm a hunter. I don't have to lie or pretend or keep people away out of fear of them finding out the truth about me. I'm free to be _me_ here… I would never find that anywhere else."

John all but threw up his hands and sat back. Sam could almost hear what his father was thinking. He knew John had picked apart from what Dean said the fact that he could easily get Dean away from this town and these people just by doing what he did best… being a hunter and killing a supernatural being. The pack would do the rest of the work of ousting Dean. It was no doubt very tempting, and Sam wouldn't be surprised if John were to follow through with it.

At long length, John looked up at Dean. "Son… is this really what you want? If you get the green light to set up permanent shop in Eclipse River, is that actually going to make you happy?"

Dean considered his answer for only a second. "I know I could be happier here than living anywhere else."

John gave in with a groan. "Fine."

Both boys looked at one another, too cautious to hope. "Fine?"

John looked at Sam. "Sam told me I would be convinced this pack isn't full of monsters if I got to know some of the townspeople, so prove it. Show me Eclipse River and let me meet some of these lycans. If I decide you're right…" John shrugged. "I'm only looking out for your safety, son… that's my top priority, and I won't apologize for that, but I do want you to be happy. Whether you boys believe that or not, it's true. It's what your mother and I always wanted for the both of you. And if _this_," John waved a hand at the house, "is what it's going to take… well, hell, I guess I could learn to live with it."

Dean was trying not to get too excited. "You mean that?"

"But _only_ if I agree that these people are not a danger," John reiterated, aided by a finger aimed at Dean. "I'm not saying I'll ever like it, but I know what happens if I give you boys an ultimatum." A sidelong look at Sam, the outspoken college runaway, was pointed. The family had been dealt a staggering blow the last time John tried to make his will absolute law with a resistant son, and none of them wanted to go through that again.

"And don't think that I'll think twice about smoking one of these things if I get the slightest idea they are out to hurt you boys," John warned lowly.

"We'll have to warn you that Jeremy's mostly bark and just some bite," Dean muttered.

At John's sharp look, Sam chimed in, "He just means that even the people in this town who don't like Dean all that much aren't going to actually hurt him. He's pack, simple as that."

"Okay… then convince me," John grunted.

Dean looked at Sam and _grinned_.

Sam smiled back. "Trust us, Dad, the people in this town are good people. Not so different from you, actually."

John's eyebrows rose incredulously.

"Nothing is more important to them than the pack… family." Sam glanced toward Dean. "And to them, Dean is family. They'll take good care of him here."

"Okay, hello," Dean waved his hands dramatically, "I'm not a destructive dog you're trying to find a new home for, you know."

Sam laughed and John, at seemingly great pains, smirked.

"I hope like hell you boys know what you're doing," John grumbled.

"Just give us time," Sam said, "give us…" a thought occurred to him and he looked up at Dean. "Until the full moon… we can prove to Dad that the people in Eclipse River are not a threat _and_ you'll get to run with the pack."

John, puzzled, looked toward Dean.

Dean broke into a wolfish grin and his eyes flashed gold.

To Be Continued…


	16. Chapter 16

The day of the full moon in Eclipse River felt more like a town festival. Sam was used to the keyed-up, energized aura that came over Dean on the day dwindling into that first full moon, but to watch that same euphoria and excitement grip an entire town was almost _contagious_. On that day, even surly and sour Jeremy was flashing smiles and moving light on his feet.

Dean was in his element among them, just as stoked and weirdly social as the rest of them. They were all overcome with almost a childlike playfulness, from Whitney right up to old Jasper. Sam watched Dean with the pack and found it hard to distinguish him from them.

What John thought about the transformation that came over the whole town he would not say, but Sam couldn't imagine how anyone could see them all so friendly and happy and think of them as monstrous creatures.

Though Sam had high hopes that John's time in Eclipse River had already changed most of John's preconceived notions about the place. True to their word, Dean and Sam set about (the day after John's eventful arrival) showing him the town and its people.

Of course, everyone in Eclipse River knew who and what John was, and there was some healthy wariness abound, but Dean was a bridge between the two parties. The lycans were leery as all get out of John, but Dean they knew and accepted and trusted. It gave them the opportunity to actually let John get to know the townsfolk.

Some of the introductions had been better than others. Jaina and Ramon were polite (and Sam couldn't help but think of them as 'in-laws'). Watching Dean during that introduction had been more fascinating than anything. While John stood tense and awkward before Skye's parents, Jaina had seemed _protective_ of Dean. And Dean, who usually sided with John in all matters sight unseen, _let_ Jaina get defensive and damn-near maternal over him. That seemed to surprise John more than anything.

Selene was a frequent visitor, and ducking off to the sidelines to talk to her had become a welcome reprieve for Sam from the walking ball of suspicion that was John Winchester. John had thrown Sam more than one narrowed look while he was standing or sitting with Selene, but Sam refused to dignify the looks with a reaction.

The most wrought meeting between John and a lycan was not with Jeremy, as Sam would have expected, but with Lucas. The pack leader came to the house to face John directly, and it had been nothing less than chilling to watch them square off. They were men cut from a remarkably similar mold, Sam realized as he watched them. There had been only a few curt words exchanged, a lot of unblinking stares for dominance, and even a little posturing on the parts of both men. Eventually, Dean broke it up with a carefully placed elbow to John's ribs. When the stand-off ended, Sam was letting loose a sigh of relief. After a long, calculating look, Lucas left them to their task of bringing John Winchester around to reason.

And Sam hated to get ahead of himself, but after days he thought his dad might have been coming around. He never stopped watching the pack members like a hunter, or keeping one ear on his boys like they might come under attack, but he left his weapons stowed and got quiet. When John thought, he went silent as a church mouse. Measuring and considering.

Toward the last day, most of John's looks and appraising glances were not aimed at the pack. They were aimed at Dean.

Sam suspected John was swayed most of all by the ease and contentment Dean seemed to have found in Eclipse River. That, more than anything or anyone he had seen, gave John pause.

By the time the day that would culminate in the full moon had arrived, John was quietly resigned to the situation as it was.

It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but the best they could hope for from John Winchester.

Dean and the rest of the town spent the day walking on sunshine, then when the sun started to set they migrated into the forest by unspoken agreement. A mass exodus but for a few adults who volunteered to remain behind to watch over the children not yet of turning age.

Because Sam thought it would be good for John to see, Sam coaxed John to join the group trooping into the forest.

The pack was congregating in a clearing with an unobstructed view of the sky. They were milling around restlessly, voices lifted and jovial. Some of the teens were chasing each other around.

John and Sam found a log and took a seat to await the show. They both ended up watching Dean. He was standing with Jaina and Ramon, grinning ear to ear and practically radiating with glee.

"Your brother's certainly in a good mood," John grumbled.

Sam smiled. "Yeah… the wolf does this to him."

"Every time?"

"Pretty much… well," Sam amended, "except when he tries to fight the transformation. It makes him sick, then it's painful, then he turns anyway."

John mulled that over silently, then looked back toward his oldest son. Dean was bouncing on the balls of his feet, like he was just itching to get up and _go_.

"I know you think I'm a bad father," John said unexpectedly.

Sam, startled, blinked over at John.

"But I'm going to give Dean this. Even though I think it's dangerous and a terrible mistake, if it makes him this happy, I'll give it to him." John turned to level a look at Sam. "But you have to know this will go south sooner or later. If not me, another hunter will find this place. Or your brother's condition will compromise you two at the worst time and one or both of you could get killed."

"Well, don't heap too much optimism on the matter," Sam groused.

John's eyes were hard. "I mean it, Sam. This is a disaster in the offing. I would have thought I raised both of you to recognize that, but… obviously I failed somewhere."

Sam frowned.

John sighed. "Listen to me, son. The hunt… it asks a lot of us. I know that. I understand the sacrifices we've all had to make over the years, even if you think I didn't. Let Dean have this as long as he can, but just know it's not going to last forever."

Sam wanted to fume and rage, but a tiny part of him suspected his father was right. A pack of lycans in the middle of an increasingly-modern world… it would have to come crashing down at some point.

"They don't deserve it," Sam argued.

For a moment, John didn't speak. "Maybe not… but that's the way it is." He considered Dean and the other lycans thoughtfully, and then he continued, "I won't breathe a word about this place to anyone. Not so long as Dean thinks of it as home… not so long as this is a place where he lets down his defenses. And if I catch wind of a hunter setting his sights on this place, you can bet your ass I'm going to try to stop him, for _Dean's_ sake… but even with the three of us, the hunters won't be held back forever."

It was vicious and unfair, but it was also the Winchester lot in life. Their joy and happiness was always doomed to be temporary.

Dusk was consuming the sky with ever-darkening hues.

There was no call for attention or waving of hands, but quite abruptly all the pack conversations throughout the clearing died down and heads turned toward the center. Lucas stood in the middle of his pack, proud and full of the moon's pull. He began to undress.

As one, the others began to follow suit. Jaina, Ramon, Selene, Jeremy, Jasper, Ella, Josephine, Whitney, Tanya, Franklin, Dean… they were all stripping out of their clothes. Sam looked toward his brother. Dean was in the zone, his eyes drunken with the coming change and holding a steady gold color. Everyone's eyes matched Dean's.

In seemingly endless succession, the nude pack members knelt and turned. A clearing of people soon became a clearing full of wolves. It was a pretty incredible sight, and even John Winchester seemed to be struck by the collection of wolves.

Then they began to bound off into the trees. One after another, graceful and fluid, they poured into the forest like a gray river. Sam caught a brief glance of a wolf that seemed to strike him, looked familiar, might have been Selene, but she was gone with the others before he could look closer.

From the flow of animals, a single wolf leapt over the grass toward the two Winchester men. It hopped to a stop in front of them, and Sam knew it was Dean even before he caught a glimpse of the amulet around his neck.

Dean was beautifully alive, head and tail high, eyes aglow with exuberance and excitement. Dean's jaws opened in a lolling canine smile.

Sam grinned. "They're going to leave without you, dude."

Dean's ears pricked forward, he made a happy yipping sound, and with a vertical jump and flick of his tail, he dashed off toward the trees to join the pack.

Sam watched him go with a smile. He spared a quick glance at his father and could swear, for just a fraction of a second, that John cracked a hint of a smile, too.

END

A/N: This does it for me for ideas for the Skyeverse, guys and gals, so if you have any ideas or suggestions of what you'd like to see, don't be shy!


End file.
